Fatal Frame: Love Begets All Evil
by Tragic Soulquake
Summary: A troubled young girl discovers that the most powerful and beautiful thing in the world, love, can also be the most destructive when it is touched and soiled by envy, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, hatred and heartbreak. along the way, she encounters malove


Fatal Frame: Love Begets All Evil 

A pale orange colored mist, floating all around, filling the air with an eerie glow. A scream of terror. "NO. Please, don't do this. I'm begging you". "NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The sound of something splashing into some thick and golden liquid. A strange growl. A hand rising from that same golden liquid surface. More screaming. A series of unknown faces, twisted in horror. Hands. So many hands. Even more screaming :"Help me! Help me!"

And then, I woke up, feeling very stressed and confused. That awful nightmare again. For the 4th night in a row. Each time getting more and more disturbing and frightening. Why am I having this nightmare? What is its purpose?

Maybe I should introduce myself before proceeding any further. Hello, my name is Shikoju Namiri and I'm 16 years old. Ever since I was a little child, I've had this ability to "see" things. Happy, joyful events. People laughing. Recently, it changed.

A few months ago, my father came from a business trip and told my mother he was in love with another woman. He didn't love my mother anymore and wanted to divorce her as soon as possible because he intended to marry his new flame. They actually had been having an affair for a long time. It was a complete shock to my mother and me. We were devastated. My mother was totally heartbroken. She resigned herself because she didn't want this to turn into an ugly fight. It happened so suddenly. Why was he doing this to us, to our family?

It was on the day of my parents divorce that my visions started to change gradually. I saw people crying, tragedies, accidents, suffering and so on. My once pleasant dreams turned to bad awful dreams and I begun to sleepwalk.

2 weeks ago, my father and his new bride , whom I totally despised, died when their house burned down in the middle of the night. My mother and I were distraught beyond belief and yet, at the same time, I felt strangely guilty. Why?

My aunt Tei-Ku, who had recently gotten divorced too after a long and nasty battle with her husband, had decided to take a vacation to find herself again and start a new life. She was going to a very ancient and beautiful peaceful village named Oong-Ye-Wa that was almost untouched by modern civilization. She invited my mother and I to join her and we accepted. I started to have the nightmare I mentioned earlier on the day she was to get there. We were going to join her 4 days later after her arrival. Oong-Ye-Wa so protected from modern times that we couldn't get there by plane, train or bus. We would go at the nearest civilized town and reach the village by a horse-drawn coach!

When we arrived at Oong-Ye-Wa, night was falling. We got our luggage and headed for the inn we were to reside at. The village seemed to be deserted. We felt like we had wandered into an uninhabited place. No children playing in the street, no couples taking a walk, no laughter, not even a dog or a cat strutting by. There was no one at all. It wasn't that late yet. And there was a very unusual scent in the air, like burnt honey. The air felt so cold.

We entered the inn and found out it was just as silent and deserted as the village seemed to be. We called but nobody answered at the registration desk. My mother looked down at the registration book. "Shikoju, your aunt Tei-Ku is here. Look, her name is written down", said my mother. "She's in room 5. And look, there is an envelop with our names on it". She opened the envelope and 2 keys fell off. Identified as keys to room 8 and room 9. "Well", I said to my mother, "let's get our luggage to our rooms and go meet aunt Tei-Ku".

We went upstairs and when we passed in front of room 5's door, we knocked on it. No response. My mother grabbed the handle. It was unlocked. She opened the door. My aunt's personal belongings were there but she wasn't. "Mother, where is aunt Tei-Ku?" "I don't know, Shikoju, I don't know. But I don't like it". We went to our rooms to put our things down and we met in the lobby, by the registration desk. We tried searching the inn but all the doors were locked. Suddenly, we both began to feel overwhelmed with a strange fatigue. "Shikoju, I feel so sleepy. I think I really need to lay down" "Me too, mother". "Let's get back to our rooms and have a goodnight sleep. We'll try to find answers to all this tomorrow", said my mother. I fell asleep as soon as I got into my bed. And the nightmare came back, for the 5th night in a row. More vivid and intense than ever. And this time, my mother and my aunt were in it and they were begging me for help. I also saw my father, surrounded by flames, pointing a finger at me.

In the early morning, I woke up with a start. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. I felt shivers down my spine. I got out of my room. The place seemed to have become even dustier and older overnight. I could hear strange noises. I went to my mother's room. She wasn't there. Her room was a complete mess. What had happened in there?

I got out of the inn and my breath stopped for a moment. There was a thick, pale orange colored mist enveloping the entire place, creating an eerie glow. Just like in my nightmare. How strange!

I could feel a cold wind breezing. While I was lost in my thoughts, I heard a scream. I turned around and almost fainted. Right in front of me, there was an old woman. Floating above the ground, upside down. With bulging eyes and a gash across her throat. She had very long fingernails, sharp like razor blades. I was paralyzed. She came toward me, screaming: "How dare you! You'll be punished, you'll be punished!". She grabbed my arm. Her touch was ice cold. I began to scream in horror. She was shaking me and yelling: "You disobeyed me! You'll be punished!". All of a sudden, she disappeared. I felt so weak, as if my life energy had been diminished. Who was this woman? She had to be a ghost. Why had she attacked me?

What was going on here? I knew I had no choice but to explore this village and try to find some explanation and some help. But where should I begin? What would happen to me? I was so scared.

After collecting myself for a moment, I gathered my courage and started to walk away from the inn. I saw a small building that looked like a library. I went there and entered the place. Nobody. Just chilly air and creepy noises. Lots of dust. The only source of light was coming from a few chandeliers. I seemed to be in the main hall of the library. There were a lot of locked doors. At the end of the hall, I finally reached a door that was unlocked. I found myself inside a small private office. There was desk with an phone that had no reception signal. In a corner of the room, there were some shelves with books. I quickly read the titles. Nothing interesting.

As I started to turn away from the shelves, I accidentally knocked down a small table standing near. A little wooden box had been setting on the table. I took it and opened it. Inside, I found a rusty key with some folded papers. I read them. It mentioned a strange story about a camera with special particularities. It was called the "Camera Obscura". Some stuff about ghosts too. And some sort of myths and legends. I got out of the office and discovered that the rusty key could unlock one of the doors. It led to a tiny room filled with empty boxes. How weird! Why would anybody lock a room filled with empty boxes? Out of frustration, I kicked a pile of boxes that crumbled on the floor. It's then that I notice something in one of the walls.

It was a sculpted recess representing a beautiful bird with only one wing. I was about to touch it when I heard a noise behind me, like ruffled tissue. Slowly, I turned and saw a young woman standing there. She wasn't moving. Her eyes were white and her hair a mess of tangled locks. She was wearing a long dress made of many layers of tissue, the color of an old cobweb. She was smiling at me. An evil smile. She came closer. Her smile turned to anger. She opened her mouth, as if to scream but no sound came out. I could saw inside her mouth. Her tongue was cut off! She raised one arm and without hesitation, she slapped me. Hard. I fell to the ground. It felt as if someone had threw a heavy block of ice at me. I instantly felt weak and dizzy. She almost pressed her face against mine and disappeared.

I laid on the floor for a moment, until I begun to feel better. Still shaken from this encounter, I returned my attention to the recess in the wall. I pressed on it and a portion of the wall revealed a hole. Curious, I tossed my fear aside and went through the hole. I now was in what appeared to be somebody's private sanctuary. I found documents about an old purification ritual involving fire. It was barely readable. Some parts were totally erased. It also talked about love stories gone sour, jilted lovers, heartbreaks, betrayals and crimes of passions. But it was difficult to make any sense of it or get any specific details. The documents were too damaged. There was also another document, in better shape. It was about this mysterious camera I had read about in the office. Apparently, this camera was magic! It had the power to capture the life essence of ghosts and vanquished them! Things just seemed to get weirder and weirder by the minute. A camera that could kill ghosts! This was so silly. Inside a beautiful ivory chest, I found a book with empty pages. It was entitled "Ghost Manifesto" but it contained no information at all. And at the bottom of the chest, I found... an antique camera! What? Could it be...? No way! The Camera Obscura I had read about? It contained a type-14 roll film.

More confused than ever, I took the books and the camera with me. I tried to explore the rest of the library but it vain. I couldn't unlock any other doors. There was nothing more to do there at the moment so I decided to leave. As soon as I got out of the library, I saw a person walking in the distance. That person seemed to be a Buddhist monk. I called out to get his attention but it was useless. I ran to reach the monk. "Excuse me", I said, "I need to..." but before I could say anything else, he turned to face me. He wasn't a "he". He was a "she". And she was a nun with a shaved head. Her face was burned to the 2nd and 3rd degree. And she wasn't glad to see me. She was a ghost!

"This is wrong", she said in a guttural voice. "You have no morals! Suffer for your sins!", she added as she moved her hands toward me. Instinctively, without being certain of what I was doing, I raised the camera and took a picture of her. She screamed in agony. She came closer. I took 2 more pictures and she vanished into thin air.

So it was real! This camera could vanquish ghosts! And this village seemed to be filled with them. Why? Why was this village haunted? What had happened here? At least, I knew I wasn't helpless anymore. I could defend myself if I met any other ghosts. While fighting the ghost, I had dropped the Ghost Manifesto , which laid opened on the ground. I bent down to pick it up and my heart stopped for a second. Inside the book, I could see the picture of the ghost I had just defeated. Below each picture was a mention: Disfigured Nun no.3. What was this? Books that wrote themselves? Magical pictures? What else awaited me on this journey? What would I discover?

As I proceeded further into the village, I wondered if there was actually someone who could be alive here. I hoped so. I felt so lonely. Right next to the library, there seemed to be a little school. I went over there. It was indeed a school. From what I could read on the entrance door, it was a school for every grade, from post-kindergarten to the last year of high school. Unfortunately, the door was locked. I couldn't get in. I arrived at a crossroads and wondered which way to choose. There were 4 possible directions. I opted to go all the way up north. The road led me to some kind of a monastery, with a graveyard near it. All the tombs looked from another time period. And there were some small mausoleums. 5 of them, actually. I couldn't get to the monastery because there was a wall all around it. I would have to pass through the cemetery in the hope of finding a way to get through the wall.

As soon as I passed the first crypt, I heard a song. Someone was singing! A very sad song and yet, it was also strangely captivating. Standing in the entrance of another crypt was a beautiful woman, with long, curly red hair. A Japanese woman with curly hair? and red? How could that be possible? She had to be a ghost. I instantly took a picture of her. She disappeared ! I look inside the Ghost Manifesto, just for curiosity. Her picture was there, with the mention: Lete Zhun. She was really magnificent. And so sad. Like the song she had been singing. Was she evil too?

I went to the crypt she had been standing near by when the ghost of a woman came out from behind me. She had a black eye and her bottom lip was swollen and bloody. "You're hurting me" she screamed with terror. "let go of me, let go of me" she begged as she was trying to strangle me. "Please, don't do it", "please, no, no, NOOOOOOO". I could feel my heart stump in my chest as her icy touch around my neck was weakening me. I tried to loosen her grip on me and with desperation, I activated the camera and started shooting her. She slowly faded away. Tears fell on my cheeks. She was identified as "Desperate Housewife".

After a few moments, I got back on my feet and explored the monastery wall. In a corner of the cemetery, the wall seemed to have small opening. I went through. I found an entrance at the top of a small staircase. There was a heavy stone door but it was slightly opened. I had finally made my way to the monastery and was now inside it. This place must have been magnificent at one time. Now, it looked like something out of a horror film. Shades of gray everywhere, dust, spider webs and quite a few more things that seemed unbelievable. Skulls on the floor, chains on the walls, broken candles all around, and many other creepy objects. What did they do in this monastery? Torture people and sacrifice them or what?

I felt so lonely. If only I could meet another person. It would make things a little less frightening.   
I proceeded into a dimly lit hallway. I swear there were more candles in this village than there were lights in Paris. I knew this village was ancient and almost untouched by modern civilization but this was ridiculous. Suddenly, I froze in my tracks. I could hear someone chanting. It sounded like a prayer to Buddha. The chanting came from a room with a locked door. There was a hole in the door that allowed me to take a peek inside. I saw a woman. A priestess, judging from her clothes. I thought that only men could be priest. Guess I was wrong. I called out to her. Bad idea. As she turned, I saw the hatred and insanity in her eyes. She was another ghost! Before I knew it, she was in the hallway, right beside me. "Love has tainted your soul", she cried, "so now, you must die. Die! Die!". She was holding what looked like a sacred dagger in her hand. And she plunged it in my stomach. I screamed and fell to the floor. It hurt as much as a real knife would, even if I wasn't bleeding. She stabbed me again, this time, just a little above the heart. Tears sprung to my eyes. With desperation, I steadied the Camera Obscura and quickly took a shot of her. She yelled with fury. I took a few more shots. She begun to dissipate. She hit me one more time, in the neck. I was almost unconscious. I took another picture and she disappeared, with a growl that sounded like thunder. I took a quick look inside the "Ghost Manifesto". She was listed as "Unholy High Priestess".

As I laid on the floor, I heard footsteps rushing toward me. I was too weak to react. I closed my eyes and prayed for help. I could also hear voices. Frightened, I felt tears rolled out of my eyes and then, everything went black.

"Miss?...Miss, are you alright?". I groggily opened my eyes, nervous about what I might see. So far everyone I'd met hadn't come across as friendly. The person who was kneeling over me didn't look very threatening, however. As everything came into focus, I looked up at a young man who couldn't have been more than three or four years older than me. His feathery black hair half curtained his wide brown eyes. He didn't look dangerous, but I couldn't help feeling worried. I sat up and backed away a little. "Who are you?", I managed to ask, finding my voice. "I'm Irako Dihu. And I was going to ask you the same thing." "My name is Shikoju Namiri." "What are you doing down here? Outsiders aren't often looked on too kindly in this village, and no one except the priestesses and nuns are allowed down here." "I came here with my mother...but the priestesses and nuns...what is this? What's going on?" Irako looked at me as if I was insane. "You don't know anything about this village?" "Well...no. It's been abandoned for ages, as far as I know." I stood up and dusted myself off. "Do you mean to tell me this village is still inhabited?" He paused for a moment and then said " Yes and no. It is habited but not by humans" "Oh! That priestess attacked me! She... she stabbed me!", I said. Irako blanched. "She's marked you," he whispered hoarsely. I stared blankly. "She's marked you as the sacrifice for the upcoming ritual." "What ritual?" "The Tainted Love ritual." He pointed to a spot right above my heart. I ran over to a cracked mirror on the wall opposite me and gasped. There was a scar in the shape of a crudely drawn heart. The skin around it was bruised black.

"Irako", I said, "what exactly is the Tainted Love ritual?" "Well, I'm not quite sure. All I know is that years ago, a man and a woman who were married to each other both fell in love with someone else. They were both dwelling with the dark arts and had quite a reputation as dark witches". Irako paused for a moment and continued his story. "They had married only because it had been arranged by their parents and were both unhappy with each other. They were making each other miserable but their union allowed them to have a greater source of power. When their respective new flames did not return their affection and ended up falling in love with each other instead, it drove them mad". They made a pact to get revenge by using dark magic. And that's all I know", said Irako. "Something must have went wrong when they proceeded. But what exactly? No one knows" "I suppose that's better than no information at all", I said to Irako, with a big whisper. "Have you explored the monastery?" I asked him, "Do you think there is anyone else here?" "There are many locked doors so I've only explored a few rooms but nothing much to see in those", he told me. "As for other people, I'm not certain. When I got here a few days ago, I was with a group of students who are in the same class I am. But when we arrived here, we got separated. I know that some of them are dead... I found their bodies!", he continued. " I even saw the ghost of one of my teachers" "What?", I said, "This is horrible. Why are you even here?" I asked him. "And how do you know about all the stuff you told me?" "Shikoju, the class I'm in is very special. You see, I'm studying paranormal phenomenons from all over the world. Especially ghosts related events. Haunting of ancient places. That's why we came here. Over a month ago, another group came here but they never came back home. The info I have is from what our teachers told us" "Interesting. I suppose..." I said, grinning. "Here, take a look at this", I added, handing Irako the Ghost Manifesto. And I then told him what I knew and what I had been through. "Fascinating", he said. "Those books, I mean" "I know. Ok, show me what you've seen within the monastery so far. But before that, tell me about the ghosts you've encountered before meeting me". And he did. Once he had finished, I was even more scared than before. "How did you defended yourself?", I asked Irako. "Well, I just got lucky, and evaded them. I was about to go up the monastery's bell tower when a ghost appeared and prevented me from entering the staircase leading up" "Really?", I said wryly. "Show me the way. I'm gonna take care of this ghost. I'm going to give you a demonstration of the Camera Obscura's power." And so, we headed for the Bell Tower. I was trying to be courageous but inside, I was trembling like a leaf. What other horrors awaited?

I followed Irako deeper into the monastery. We arrived at a long, narrow staircase. I looked at him skeptically. I sighed, but followed him. About halfway up the stairs we heard footsteps behind us. Whirling around, I came face to face with a girl with long dark hair and icy blue eyes. She clutched a leather jacket tightly around her. Was she a ghost?

"Nari!" Irako cried, pushing past me. "You know her?", I asked, watching the girl nervously.  
"She's one of my classmates, a good friend of mine!", he exclaimed, sounding thoroughly relieved. "Nari! I'm so happy to see you! Are any of the others okay?". Nari said nothing, just stared up at us. "Did something happened?", Irako asked anxiously. Slowly, she removed her jacket, revealing a white t-shirt, all tore up and covered in blood. There was a large, ragged, bloody hole in her chest; her heart had been torn out. I heard Irako take a sharp intake of breath. "Nari", he choked out. "Bloodied hands... ripping, tearing flesh...", she rasped, slowly gliding towards us. "Run!", I hissed to Irako, but he seemed to be immobilized, unable to move his legs. Pushing him back, I raised the Camera Obscura and carefully aimed. I snapped a shot right as she reached out towards me. She flew back, crying in anguish. I shot again. Screaming, she disappeared in a flash of blue light. I turned around and knelt down to check on Irako, who had collapsed onto the stairs and was now huddled against the wall. "Are you all right?", I asked, touching his shoulder. "Nari... my friend...", he whispered, a few tears streaking down his face. "I'm so sorry", I said softly. Irako brushed away his tears and stood up shakily. "I expect none of them made it", he said sadly. "I'm pretty sure we're the only ones alive here, Shikoju. Whatever evil forces are at work here, we better be careful".

We arrived upstairs. There was a small circular balcony surrounding the bells and it lead outside to. The view was amazing, albeit very spooky too with all the weirdness going around here. "Irako, have you seen how many buildings there are in this village? We'll never be able to search all of them, it'll take forever" "Shikoju, we have to. You do want to find your mother and your aunt, right?", he said.  
"Off course", I replied. "Irako, look over there. There's a lake. And there seems to be an island in the middle!" "I see it, Shikoju. I see it" "What can it..." but before I could say another word, a piercing scream echoed in the air. "oh oh, here comes trouble", said Irako, pointing at a beautiful woman floating toward us slowly. "Shikoju, look at her neck, it's broken!". "Broken or not, she's a ghost and I don't think she wants to share a cup of Ooblong tea with us!" Quickly, I took a few snapshots and she vanished, howling a chilling "it hurts! it hurts!" "Rest in piece, Broken-Neck Woman and don't come back ever", I said. At that very moment, a terrifying clasp of thunder was heard from above the bell tower's roof. The ceiling sort of collapsed and a man appeared. A man with... a broken neck.  
"My beloved!", he screamed at us. "Together in life, together in death", he whispered loudly. And with that, he lunged for us. I evaded him just in time but Irako wasn't so lucky. "Irako, watch out!", I yelled but it was too late. Before my very eyes, the Broken-Neck Man got hold of Irako and together, they went over the balcony's railing! "NOOOOOOOOOOO! RAKO!"

I was petrified, watching Irako fall as the Broken Neck Man vanished into thin air. Suddenly, there was a crashing sound, like wooden planks being fiercely broken, followed by a splashing sound.

"Irako", I screamed, looking down. But all I could see a black hole in the ground. I rushed downstairs and into the courtyard as fast as possible. When I reached the front of the Bell Tower, I discovered that the black hole was actually an ancient well that had been sealed off. Irako had crashed down through it. I screamed his name again. "Shikoju, is that you?", asked Irako in a raspy voice. "Yes. Are you alright?" I asked back. "Nothing's broken, I'm ok. The water broke down my chute. But I think I'm trapped here." "We have to get you out of here. Do you know where I could find a rope or a ladder?" "No. I haven't seen any in all the places I've been to so far." "That means I'll have to go look for something, which means also leaving you here all alone and probably longer than expected." "No! Don't leave yet! Where's the Broken Neck Man? Did you vanquished him?" Irako asked me. "He faded away slowly as you fell so I couldn't take his picture, which now makes me realize he might come back." I said, my heart pounding in my chest. "Shikoju, there's a very strong unpleasant copperish smell down here, and I don't like it" "Hey, I don't really need my flashlight right now so I'll throw it down to you and you can explore your surroundings, ok?"  
"Ok, go ahead" "Here, catch it!" "Ok, I've got it". Let's see where I... Oh no! This is impossible! How disgusting!" "Irako, what's wrong?" "Shikoju, I didn't fell into water at all! That copper-like smell I told you about is actually the smell of blood! I'm wading in blood! Up to my waist!" "Blood?", I said, "how can that be? Why would an ancient well be filled with blood? and who's blood?" "Judging from the amount", Irako said, " I'd say the blood of many people" "This is too disturbing. Ok, let's try to stay calm", I said. "Do you see anything else?" "No, it's only... , wait! There's a small overture behind me. It seems to lead into a tunnel. I'll go take a look." "ok, but be careful".

I wanted to do some exploration but I had to stay near the well and wait for Irako's return. And so he did, a few minutes later. "Shikoju, I've found an underground cave. I might be able to find a way out through there but we'll lose contact" "I know Irako, but we don't really have a choice".  
"You're right. I'm just worried about the time it will..." and his voice stopped. "Irako, are you there?"  
"Yes, it's just that I hear something. I hear... a woman... crying... and... she's... she's... she's running toward me... she's afraid of something. I must help her!" "Irako, wait!", I told him, " it might be..."  
" A ghost! Shikoju, that woman... is a ghost! and she's... she's pregnant!" "Pregnant?" What do you mean pregnant?", I asked, astounded. "Like she's about to give birth! and she's begging me for help!"

And then, I heard her voice. That woman, ghost or no ghost, was petrified and agonizing. "Help me!", she lamented, " help me! Why has he done this to me? He stole my innocence! He soiled me! He soiled me forever! Help me!" "Shikoju, can you photograph her from up there?", Irako asked. "No", I responded. " I hear her but I can't see her, it's too deep." "She's... AAAAAAAAAAAhhhhh! She's grabbing me Hikoju! Help Me!" Irako screamed. I had to react and quickly. I was about to jump into the well when I got another idea. "Irako, you have to defeat her yourself. I'm sending the Camera down to you, ok? Catch it, here it goes" and I threw the Camera down the well. "I've got it!", he yelled. "Now, hurry and take pictures of her. Just raise the Camera, take aim and click as fast as possible", I shouted to him. I heard the sound of pictures being taken as I heard the woman scream in terror and I saw flashes of light at the bottom of the well. "Shikoju, I did it! I vanquished a ghost!", Irako exclaimed, with pride in his voice. "Alright, great job! But I've got disturbing information for you. I've just looked in the Ghost Manifesto and she's listed as... "Bearer Of Shame" "Bearer Of Shame?", said Irako, "I don't like this" "Me neither. Do you think you can throw the Camera back at me now?" "I'll try. Ready? Catch it!". But I was unable to catch it. It didn't came up high enough. Irako tried many times but it was useless. "Irako, you'll have to keep the Camera with you until you get out of there and we can meet again. We can afford to waste any more time so get on your way and I'll keep exploring the village, ok?" "Ok. Be careful Shikoju" "You too. And good luck!"

And so, I left Irako and continued my exploration. I decided the best thing to do was to follow the way the underground passage seemed to go. Soon, I found myself at a crossroad. The path on my left lead to a lake. The lake I had seen from the bell tower's balcony. I could even see the small island in the middle of the lake. But there was no boat or raft in sight. The right path lead to a devastated burned field with some very peculiar stone monuments installed in a triangle arrangement in the middle of it. I could see a lot of human and animals bodies mixed up together. What had happened here? And this weird scent of burnt honey that could be smelled all through the village was even more vivid near the field. It seemed to come from there actually. What should I do? Which way should I go? Where would Irako surface?

I looked down the right path. No way was I going that way. Too many dead bodies. Besides, the odd, burnt honey smell was making me curiously light headed. Sighing, I headed down the left path, towards the lake. I had no clue what I would do once I got there. It wasn't like there was any way to get to the island. I approached the edge of the lake and looked down into the murky green water. Now what? I stood there for a moment, then did possibly the most stupid thing I could have done-I knelt down to look into the lake more closely.

Suddenly a hand shot out of the water; a grey-green decaying hand. It grabbed my wrist and I yelped in pain as the ghost emerged from the water. He wore tattered grey pants and a brown tunic dripping with slimy seaweed. His teeth were chipped and yellow, and chunks of his skin seemed to be missing.

"Her secret… I took to the grave...", he whispered, pulling me closer. I nearly stumbled into the water. I yanked out of his grasp and ran for my life. I needed that camera.. How was I supposed to get down to Irako? I looked over my shoulder and gave sigh of relief; the ghost wasn't chasing me. He must have returned to his watery tomb. Slowing down, I began walking around the lake once again. Suddenly, the terrain changed. I was no longer walking on squishy, marsh like grass, but... stone? I looked down. I had stepped onto a stone slab that had been covered with grass and leaves. Was it covering something? Stepping off it, I pushed the slab away with some difficulty, revealing a dark passageway. "Yes!", I whispered triumphantly. "This must lead to where Irako fell!". I hurried down the crumbling stone steps, not even considering what might await me.

The stairs led me to a wide stone corridor. Water dripped from the ceiling. It must have led right underneath the lake. I regretted throwing my flashlight down to Irako. I could hardly see my own hand in front of my face. That problem was solved, however. A bright light was slowly coming towards me... a torch. Someone holding a torch was walking towards me. I stood, immobilized. The person finally got close enough as to where I could see him. He set the torch in a bracket attached to the wall and sneered down at me. If I hadn't been scared out of my wits, I would have paid more attention to how handsome he was. He was tall with flawless pale skin that contrasted with his long black hair that he had tied back. He wore flowing black robes and a gold medallion encrusted with sparkling rubies. Once I looked into his eyes, however, I knew he was someone to worry about. They were deep, blood red, glinting menacingly. He said nothing for a moment, then traced the scar on my heart. I winced at his icy touch. He may have been a ghost, but his touch was real enough. "You've been marked", he said in a deadly quiet voice. "Yes, I've figured that out by now", I said. "Do you know what it means?", he asked. "Not really", I replied, trying to decide whether or not I should run. His sneer became more pronounced. "You will", he said, clutching my shoulder. Well, I knew what to do now. I pulled out of his grasp and bolted down the corridor, not looking back. I heard him laugh though; a cold, unearthly laugh. "There's nowhere to run, you know. The ritual will go on." I ran as fast as I could, my lungs practically bursting. Finally I stopped and collapsed. I huddled against the wall. "Irako, where are you?", I yelled.

In the meantime, Irako was trying to find a way out. He had come back to the underground cave he had mentioned to Shikoju earlier. He took a deep breath and began to explore it deeper. He made quite a few discoveries that sent shivers down his spine. "Oh, that's awful!", he thought to himself. "I can't wait to find Shikoju and show this to her. How can human beings be so cruel and evil toward each others? I must hurry out of here and find Shikoju. She's defenseless without the Camera. If I get attacked, I'll be ok but she won't.". The cave led to another long tunnel, also immersed in blood. The scent was making him nauseous. He discovered another cave. This one seemed to be empty. He was about to get out by the other extremity of the cave when he saw a baby! And it was crying. He got closer and was shocked. The infant was wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket!

All of a sudden, the baby started to rise above the ground, turned its little distorted face toward Irako and let out a chilling scream, as blood dripped out of its mouth. Irako, trembling like a leaf, slowly raised the Camera Obscura, aimed and took a shot. The baby growled like a furious beast and disappeared. Irako got out of the cave and found himself in another tunnel that was exactly like the previous ones. He spooned reached a 3rd cave. But this one seemed to have no other issues. Where there should have been one lied a pile of rocks, as if there had been a cave-in. "Where am I supposed to go now?", he asked himself. The answer came to him in an unexpected way. A woman appeared at the entrance of the cave. She was clutching a tiny little package against her bosom. Tears were wetting her cheeks. He recognized her as "Bearer Of Shame". Fearing she would attack him again, he took a picture. And then, everything became black and white, as if he was having a flash back.

She put the little package down. It was her baby! "I'm sorry, little one. I know you didn't asked to be born." she said in a heartbreaking voice. " I have no other choice, I can't take care of you. You're better off without me. I must carry my shame all by myself. Goodbye." And she went through the piled up rocks and disappeared. "What just happened?", Irako wondered as the colors came back. "It's like I went back to the past or something. How strange!". He went to the piled up rocks and felt a brush of fresh air. He begun to remove the heavy rock one by one. After a long moment, some stone stairs appeared. Once all the rocks were removed, he saw that it was a staircase leading up to somewhere. He proceeded to climb up. It seemed to go up forever until he totally lost track of time. He found himself in a very dusty room. He could hear the sound of water crashing against some rocks. "Where am I?", he wondered. "Why is it so cold in here?" He saw a door and went to it. As he was about to reach for the handle of the door, he felt an icy cold hand grab him by the neck and he fell to the floor, as the hand began to strangle him...

Suddenly, I heard Irako's voice. He was being attacked. "Irako, where are you?", I screamed, trying to get out of the corridor. But he didn't responded. And then, I noticed that his voice seemed to be distorted, like an echo. "Where could he be? How come I could hear him but not find him?", I wondered. I got out of the corridor and to my surprise, discovered that I was on the island! There seemed to be an old abandoned house near the corridor's exit. I took a few steps and Irako's voice became clearer. And yet, when I called out for him, he didn't answer. What was going on?

I tried to get inside the house but couldn't. The windows were too high and the doors were locked. I realized that Irako's voice was actually coming a few meters from the house. And then, I saw him. There was an oblique metal grillage on a small mound in the ground. Irako was underground, right beneath me. I could see him. And I could see a ghost strangling him. And then, I heard Irako's voice come from within the house too. I rushed to the door and heard him clearly calling for help. How could he be at two places at the same time? Which one was real? And how to get to him?

"Irako, is that you?", I screamed. "Shikoju, help me", he screamed back. "Irako, I can hear your voice coming from 2..." but I stopped right away. On the edge of the lake, near the double path, there was a 3rd Irako, laying face down and he was being strangled by the same ghost that was also attacking him underground. I was totally puzzled! There were now 3 Irakos being attacked at the same time, in 3 different places! I notice that the Irako on the edge of the lake had dropped the Camera and it had rolled away from him. He was unable to reach it. I rushed to the oblique grillage where the underground Irako was and saw that he had also dropped the Camera. And then, I heard the Irako inside the house screaming that he had dropped the Camera. What was I going to do? Which one should I try to help? And how would I get to him in time? As Irako's screams intensified, so did my panic. What should I do? I was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown when something caught my attention.

Hovering in the air a few meters from the ground, I saw a couple. A young man and a young woman. They were holding hands and wearing traditional Japanese wedding costumes. I saw them floating from one place to the other, where each one of the 3 Irakos were. However, they weren't aggressive. As a matter of fact, they both looked pretty sad, yet friendly. And then, they spoke, in an oddly tone of voice, guttural and sweet at the same time. "So much madness", they said together. "So much pain and suffering. They shattered our illusions". They started laughing. Very softly. And then, it became more hysterical, until it reached pure madness, as if they had both suddenly lost their mind. They stopped laughing. "We couldn't stop them. They still torment us", they lamented. They laughed again. "True love must prevail!", they shouted. And they disappeared. At the same instant, I saw the Irako standing on the edge of the lake disappear. I rushed to the small oblique iron fence and peeked through. That Irako was still there and still being attacked. I went back to the house. No more screams were coming from there. And the door was now unlocked. I got inside. It was almost pitched black. I could barely see in front of me. I kept bumping into walls and stuff. Irako's voice was very clear now, however. I struggled in the dark to find my way to him. I was about to give up hope when a girl dressed like a very poor peasant appeared to my side, out of nowhere. Her face was very dirty and her hair was a mess, as if she hadn't bathed in quite a while. "Follow me", she said, "Come on, hurry up. There's no time to lose". She added. And then, I notice that she smelled like honey. Burnt honey ! I was terrified but I followed her. She knocked on a stone door and said: " Lete, come out of hiding and open up. It's me, Kukani". Slowly, the door opened. I was totally stunned. Standing in front of me was the beautiful woman with long and curly red hair I had seen by the crypt, in the monastery's cemetery. Lete Zhun. She and the young girl named Kukani hugged and disappeared together. At that moment, I saw Irako laying on the ground, unconscious. The Camera was at my feet. I grabbed it. And aimed. He was being strangled by a hand. But the person who the hand belonged to was standing at the opposite end of the room! His or her hands had been cut off! I could only see one, however. Where was the other? I quickly photographed the hand and both the hand and its owner vanished without a scream. I never saw the ghost's face. It could have been a man or a woman. "Irako, wake up", I said, worried about him. "Shikoju", he said weakly, opening his eyes slowly. "What happened?" he asked, as I helped him to get on his feet. I told him everything I had been through since leaving him in the well and he then told me what had happened to him.

"I've got bad news", I said. "We're out of films for the Camera. And I've also got worse news. I suspect we're not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot'' "Well, I've got good news", he said. "Take this". He put a hand in his pocket and handed 2 rolls of film. Type 50 and type 90. "Great!", I said. "Those films are even stronger than the previous one we had" "Now, take a look at those documents I found underground and read them carefully", he told me. I took the documents and started to read. I was horrified. It related the story of the 2 lovers he had told me about while explaining what he knew about the Tainted Love ritual. They were the lovers I had seen before being able to rescue him. It seemed they were involved in another ritual called the Shattered Illusions ritual. It was very strange and complex. So many horrifying events had took place in this village. As I continued my reading, I couldn't believe what the documents said.

"Irako", I said, "this is awful" "I know", Irako said in a low voice. "It's beyond sad, tragic or whatever other words we could use. By the way, maybe we should take a look into the Ghost Manifesto to get more infos on the last ghosts we saw" "OK. Let's do that". And so, we opened the Ghost Manifesto. The pregnant woman' baby was identified as "Little Bundle Of Pain". The strangling hand and its owner were unidentified. "Mmm, that's weird", I told myself. No infos on that ghost". I was still reeling from the shock of barely saving Irako from that very spooky apparition and also from what he had shared with me. The "Bearer of Shame" had been violently attacked by a man who had raped her. As a result of that raped, she had become pregnant. However, that wasn't all. She was supposed to be sacrifice as a perfectly pure maiden to help create enough energy for the Tainted Love ritual. Which meant only one thing. Even if I was marked for the next ritual, as the main sacrifice, another young girl would have to be sacrificed before I could be. A young man would also have to be sacrifice for reasons unknown. What could those reasons be? Why was a young man needed for the ritual? What did he played?

As for the Shattered Illusion ritual, when it had occurred for the last time, it had failed. When the young man and his new bride were captured by the dark sorcerers, they refused to end their love.  
When the dark sorcerers began the ritual to sacrifice them both, the young man and his bride vowed revenge against the evil couple. They went insane as they were dying and it created a curse. The groom, his bride and the evil couple all became doomed forever and since then, have been forced to relive that fateful night over and over.

Irako and I were came out of the stone house on the island when we saw someone appear on the banks of the lake. It was Kukani, the filthy girl who had lead me to Irako before vanishing with Lete. Quickly, I took a picture of her. She floated all the way over to us and told us: " Come meet me in the old barn, where everything has burned down. Don't be afraid. I'll tell you some secrets about me, Lete, and our friend, the Secret Holder. And also some very interesting details about the rituals". And with that, she smiled and vanished. "How do we go there?", Irako asked me. "There's no way we can swim across that lake. Not after what you told me you saw in it" "We'll have to go through the same way I got here, I'm afraid", I said. "And I don't like it much. By the way, look at this", I said, pointing at a new picture in the Ghost Manifesto. "Kukani is known as the "Honey Thief Girl".

Without saying a word, we gathered our courage and entered that horrible corridor. No hands came out from the walls. We saw the orange flicker our that scary boy I had encountered on my first time in here but he was nowhere to be seen. Which didn't meant we were alone. As we were preparing to get out of the corridor, the young man and the young woman dressed up in traditional Japanese wedding clothing I had seen before appeared in front of us. They were holding hands. Looking at us. Walking very slowly toward us. Grinning. And then, they lunged for us as they bursted out laughing insanely. I took a snapshot. They laughed even louder. "Shikoju, they're known as "Insane Groom" and his "Insane Bride", said Irako, holding the Ghost Manifesto. "I don't care much for their names right now, Irako. Insane or not, they're attacking us. And they brought company". Indeed, right behind them stood the Broken Neck Man holding the hand of Broken Neck Woman. Both of them were screaming in rage and agony while the Insane Groom and his Insane Bride were laughing hysterically. I had the feeling that before things got better, they would get worse. I had not idea how right I was about that theory. It did got worse. Much more worse than I could have imagined...

"Oh no. Not now!" I hissed. "The film's not having any effect! The Camera seems to be blocked or something. Irako, take care of the Broken-Neck duo and I'll distract the Insane Bride and her husband." "Ok. Be careful.", Irako answered, then ran in the opposite direction. The Insane Bride and her Insane Groom still laughing, floated after him. The Broken-Neck couple started to follow, but I snapped a shot of them. Reeling back, they howled in agony, then headed toward me again. I took a few more shots, and finally they faded. Sighing with relief, I ran to find Rako. I discovered him cornered by the Insane couple, still laughing. "Shikoju!", Irako shouted. "Go look in the other corner!". Confused, I ran to the other corner. I found two rings, both silver with black gems.  
"What am I supposed to do with these?", I exclaimed. "I don't know, but they started freaking out when I began to go get them.", Irako answered, trying to squirm out of the corner away from the ghosts. Maybe...try getting rid of them!". "How?" "I don't know. Just try something! Anything!". Looking around frantically, I saw a thin crevasse on the side of the corridor. Running to it, I dropped the two rings down it. The ghosts laughter turned to wailing, and they disappeared. "Do you think they're gone for good?", I asked. "I'm not sure. Keep your eye out though. Knowing our luck it could just be temporary.". 

The two of us sat against the damp stone walls, catching our breath. "Irako?", I said hesitantly.  
"Yeah?" "You know how it said a young man was needed in the ritual as well?" "Yeah."  
"What if they get to you? You're the only living male in this village. What if they mark you, too?".  
"I know. I've been thinking about that too." "We need to get out of here as fast as we can, Irako. I don't want to die here, and I don't want you to either", I said, my last few words quavering, trying not to cry." Irako gently squeezed my hand. "We're not going to die here, Shikoju. Not as long as we stick together. But we can't try to leave. We need to help the poor souls trapped here." "The poor souls that have been trying to kill us?" "I don't think they mean to. I just know we need to try and help. This suffering needs to end.". "I wouldn't waste my time trying, if I were you", an icy voice said. We scrambled to our feet to face the same young man I'd encountered earlier. "A male is needed. You have been chosen", he hissed, glaring down at Irako, who looked very pale. I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe all the stress had finally made me snapped but I pushed Irako out of the way, stood in front of the man, squared my shoulders, and glared up at him. "Don't you dare touch him!", I shouted. He stared down on me, looking amused. "And I suppose you're going to stop me?", he teased cruelly. I raised the camera. "Yes", I whispered, taking a shot. Nothing happened. I stared in horror from the Camera to the man, who laughed. "You honestly thought that little contraption could destroy me?". Trying to hold onto my last shred of courage, I stood my ground and said: "If you want Irako, you'll have to go through me." He grinned down at me maliciously, his red eyes glinting like two flames. I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. "If you insist." He reached his hand toward me. I felt myself falling backward, then everything went black.

"Shikoju! Shikoju!", I heard Irako's anxious voice above me as everything came back into focus.  
"Where'd he go?", I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "I don't know. Once you fainted, he pulled out a dagger and started towards me. That's all I remember before blacking out, myself. I just woke up a couple minutes ago." "Did he...?" I couldn't finish my sentence. Irako nodded. He unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt, revealing a scar similar to my own. "We're going to need to work even faster." Too many things were happening at the same time. However, we didn't have time to complain about that. We had to make our way back across the other side of the lake, to meet Kukani. I just hoped we weren't walking in some sort of trap. After all, this was a ghost who wanted to talk to us. And in a very disturbing and eerie place, not to say the least. Still, we finally reached the spot where we were supposed to meet that girl.

"Over here", said a voice. "Over here. Don't worry, I wish you no harm". Startled, Irako and I looked in the voice's direction. It was the "Honey Thief Girl". She was waiting for us inside the barn, located in the burned field, where remains of many animals and humans corpses were laying. The scent of burnt honey was foul and intoxicating at the same time. "I don't have much time to talk to you. This is very unusual to be allowed to cross the Great Divide. I must use this time wisely. My name is Kukani. My friend, Lete Zhun, sent me to you. The lady with the long curly red hair you saw me with earlier. There are things I must tell you and fast, so please, do not interrupt me. Evil people from the past are trying to come back from the dead to recreate some old rituals that went wrong the last time they were performed. These rituals have to do with the most powerful human emotion of all: Love. As beautiful and creative it might be, it can also be very destructive and ugly. I see that the two of you have been marked for the Tainted Love ritual. I can't help you with that. Someone that is very dear to one of you is holding a very dark secret. That person must make a confession and then the truth will be revealed, which should able you to know how to break the curse. Find this person". She paused for a short moment.

"A long time ago, many tragic and violent events took place in this village. All in the name of love. A maiden who had a specific duty was soiled forever, her virtue broken beyond repair, making her impure and therefore, unable to accomplish her duty. We had a male friend in common, she and I. A friend who knew too much and suffered a terrible fate. Try to find a way to communicate with him. He has secrets to reveal too. He knows so much. Release him from his watery grave. I, myself, was brutally murdered. Find the link between us all. Find out who killed me. And who killed Lete. And why. My time here is almost over. No matter what happens, don't lose hope. Stay strong and courageous. You'll need to in order to survive the terrible ordeal that lies ahead for you both. I almost forgot: Learn the story of the beautiful and sad songbird, Lete Zhun. Connect everything together. The Shattered Illusions ritual. Don't let it happen again. It takes place before the Tainted Love ritual. Prevent them both, if you can. If you fail, disastrous calamities beyond your imagination will come to life. Set us free. Bring peace and harmony back to this village. The honey, the fire and the mist. Discover their purpose and their role in the village's history. The honey. The fire. The mist. Don't forget. One last thing: Beware Lady Mubana Oori, the brothel owner. And her accomplice, Xeili Nungti. Beware. Stay on your guards at all times. These 2 shameless creatures are most treacherous. And remember: the honey. The fire. The mist." And with that, she disappeared. Irako and I were stunned and speechless.

"Shikoju, those informations are very helpful and yet, very cryptic.", said Irako. "I know, but at least, it's more than we had before. We just have to decipher the meaning of it all" "Do you have any idea who Lady Mubana Oori and Xeili Nungti might be?", Irako asked me. "No. I didn't even though there might have been a brothel in a godforsaken village like this one. I may know, however, whom Kukani was referring to when she mentioned a friend whom we must release from a watery grave. Remember what I told you happened to me when I was trying to find a way to cross the lake? I'm pretty sure she meant that man. The problem is, how are we going to "release" him?", I asked. "Beats me", Irako said. " I can't even figure out who is the person "very dear to one of us" who has a dark secret and that we must find" "Me neither and… do you hear that? What's that noise" I asked Irako. "Weird", Irako responded. "Sounds like some sort of buzzing. A scary buzzing, actually". "It's getting louder, I don't… Oh no! What's this?", I said to Irako, pointing my finger in a spot in the middle of the burnt field. There was like a strange, undefined black cloud, moving furiously toward us. And the buzzing sound came from it. It got closer and closer. "Shikoju, it's a swarm of bees! Run!", Irako screamed. And so we started to run, as the bees got even closer. Suddenly, they separated and started circling us, trying to surround us. "Collect the delicious pollen of these children's blood", thundered a loud voice, coming out from behind the swarm. "Sting with all your might, sting." And then, we saw a man appearing. He looked both furious and overwhelmed by madness. He was wearing a farmer's daily working gabs, complete with a hat. "Sting them to death, my valiant deadly little workers. Draw their blood to fertilize my fields. Sting, sting, sting!", the man ordered. And sure enough, the bees started to sting us. They where coming from everywhere at once. I tried to snap pictures of them but it was useless. "Ouch! Shikoju, do something. Ouch! " Irako screamed. "Quickly, ouch! Before they kill us, ouch!". "I'm trying. Ouch! The Camera has… ouch! No effect on them, ouch!". We both were swelling up from the bees numerous stings. Tears of intensive pain were filling our eyes. I had to try something else. I took a deep breath and lunge toward the man, getting stung many times in the meanwhile. I raised the Camera and shot him. He yelled. I saw Irako fell to the ground. I photographed the man again. And again. Just when I was about to collapse, he finally disappeared. And so did the bees. I rushed to Irako's side. He woke up slowly, as the pain dissipated and our energy returned. "Look", I said to Irako., indicating a picture in the Ghost Manifesto. "He's identified as "The Beekeeper". "I guess it makes sense", said Irako. "Now, let's get out of this place and return to the village", I told him.

We finally came back to the village. We were still trying to decide what place to explore when a woman's voice exploded a few meters from our location, behind a house. We hurried there and gasped in shock. A woman was standing there, screaming. Her pink kimono was stained with blood. Her long black hair was dishevelled and bloodied too. She had dark circles under her eyes. But her most horrible aspect came from her arms. Both her arms were wide splitted in two, opened from the hand to the elbow, making it looks as if she had 4 arms instead of two. Every time she moved, blood oozed from her wounds. It was gross. She tried to slap us, but couldn't. It seemed to infuriate her. She only screamed, not saying anything precise. I didn't waste any time. I took a few shots and she was gone. "Maid Of Horror" was her designation in the Ghost Manifesto. We had only got rid of her when we heard a woman's laugh. We couldn't see her anywhere. She was saying very obscene things. We both blushed as she said those things. We had to find her. And we did. Coming out of a shabby bar was a woman walking a little hesitantly. As she came forward, both Irako and I let out a stunned cry. She was totally naked! And revoltingly ugly. Her skin was the colour of decayed moisture. Bones were piercing her rib cage. As she reached us, she started to make obscene gestures at Irako. She was coming on to him! First thing we knew, she had pushed him down to the ground and had sated herself on top of him! I immediately raised the Camera and shot her until she was gone. "Well, Irako, you're a real magnet for hot babes, aren't you?", I teased. " A real ladies' man".  
"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Shikoju", Irako said. "Relax, it's just a joke. By the way, your "girlfriend" is identified as "Hoochie Woman". "Fabulous. Let's change subject, ok? This experience was very disturbing for me".

We found a beautiful little house that kind of clashed with the other buildings of the village. We entered it but it was very small inside. Only a bedroom and 2 other rooms. It was obviously a woman's place. On a table, we found a journal. The owner had been a friend of Lete Zhun, judging from her writings. Unfortunately, it didn't tell us much about the curly red haired young woman. Only that she and the journal's owner were both singer and had compete against each other. A contest that had been won by Inosso, which had caused a rift in their friendship. The back door led into a small garden. As we got into the garden, we heard a humming coming from a tree. An elegant young woman was sitting on a branch. She was singing a very sad traditional Japanese song. Her shiny black hair was perfectly coiffed, hold in place by ivory combs incrusted with pearls and she was wearing a very pale whitish blue kimono with gold patterns on it. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she sang. We noticed a knife in her hand. "I'm so sorry", she said. She seemed lost in thoughts, talking to someone who wasn't there. She didn't even saw us. "I've been mean and selfish", she continued. "Forgive me from wherever you are now, my dearest friend. I let petty jealousy blind me. I betrayed you. I'm so sorry. So very sorry. I was stupid. Now, I must pay for my sins against you". She started to sing again. As she did, she raised the knife and all of a sudden, plunged it in her chest. Blood started to drip from her mouth. She kept on singing as she moved the blade toward her heart. Irako and I were both petrified. We called out to her but she didn't seem to hear us. A light started to glitter around her. Without knowing why, I took a picture of her, tears wetting my own cheeks. The light grew more vivid. When she was gone, I took a peek in the Ghost Manifesto. She was known as "Treacherous Girlfriend".

Silently, Irako and I went back out on the streets, both lost in our thoughts. The silence was broken once again with more singing, but of a different voice. I couldn't remember where I had heard it at first, but then it hit me. "Irako! Listen! It's Lete!" "Where is she?" he asked, looking around. "I'm not sure", I said. "I guess we'll just have to follow her voice.". We set off running down the path, trying to find where the singing was coming from. We finally found the source. A large hut on the left side of the path. Hesitantly, we slid open the door. It was almost completely empty, except for a small bookshelf, a koto, and a stool on which Lete sat, singing. She didn't seem to notice us at first. She was completely lost in her song, staring out the large window overlooking the lake. Irako cleared his throat, and Lete stopped singing and turned to looking at us. She smiled. "So we finally meet", she said. "Kukani told me about both of you.". "She told us about you as well", Irako said. "She said we needed to learn your story." Lete's smile faded, but she said: "Yes... I suppose in order to help you understand everything about this village you will have to hear my story. You see, my good friend, Nirilu and I competed in a singing contest. I won, and Nirilu was devastated. Winning the contest was very important to her. Though she tried to hide it, she was extremely jealous and it caused a bit of tension in our friendship. The prize for winning the contest was a vacation to this village, and I took Nirilu with me, hoping it would cheer her up. We were surprised when we found there was no one here, but we chose to ignore that. Upon exploring the village, we came upon a young man. He said he'd heard I had won a singing contest and was wondering if I would sing at his wedding. I said yes, and he told me to meet me in this hut in an hour. After he left, Nirilu told me there was something about the man that had worried her. I told her she was crazy, and we started arguing. Finally I told her she was just jealous that I was a better singer and was trying to get me not to sing for the wedding because of her jealously. She got angry and ran off. I don't know what happened to her after that.". My heart felt like it was breaking. Managing to find my voice, I said: "I think we know what happened to her." I briefly told her about Nirilu's destiny. Tears welled up in Lete's eyes. Irako said in a comforting manner: "Friends fight occasionally." "And this fight drove my friend to her death." "I'm very sorry.", I said. "I should be the sorry one... I just wish I could tell Nirilu that."

We all sat in silence for a few moments, then I said: "What happened to you after that?". I felt bad for pressing the subject, but Kukani had said to learn her story. "I went to the hut alone. When I got there, the man was there, with a woman. His wife. He told her that I was the woman he'd found for the Tainted Love ritual, and told her to mark me. The woman walked up to me, looked at me, and said I wasn't pure enough for the ritual... and without letting me time to react, she killed me." "And how did you meet Kukani?", Irako asked. "You get to know all the ghosts in this village once you become one, and trust me, they aren't all as friendly as Kukani and I." "Yeah, we've noticed.". "Which ghosts have you encountered?", Lete asked us. "Quite a few...the Broken Neck couple, the Insane Bride and Insane Groom, The Beekeeper...oh, and the Hoochie Woman." "Oh! You mean… the one who...", Lete seemed at a loss for words. "She threw herself at Irako", I said. "I think she would've defiled him if I hadn't blasted her back into ghost world." "From what I understand, she was desperate for love, from anyone. The Beekeeper told her he loved her, took her to his home, raped her and murdered her." "Everyone in this village seems to have such a sad story ", Irako said. "Yes. Whatever evil has settled over this village seems to feed off of love gone wrong. Maybe that has to do with the Tainted Love ritual. I'm not sure about all the details. Look, you two should leave. It's not good to stay in one place in this village for too long." "But we need to ask you some more questions, about some other stuff Kukani mentioned." "Perhaps we'll meet again later. You should leave now, though, for your own safety. Just remember: keep your love strong. If you stay together, nothing can break your bond of love." Irako and I blushed. "You think that...? Oh, no, we aren't...", I stuttered. Lete smiled. "I only assumed... well, never mind. I hope we will meet again." And with that, she disappeared. Taking her advice, we left the hut and began walking down the path once again. "So, what do we do now?", I asked. "We know Lete's story, but we don't know anything else. We aren't any closer to solve anything." "I'm not sure. Maybe we'll find something though. Or maybe we can talk to Lete about Kukani again." "I don't know how much time we have left though.", I said. "I know, but there's not much we can do.". I nodded. Rubbing my eyes, I yawned widely. "Tired?", he asked. "Sort of.", I said. "Maybe we should stop somewhere and get some rest." "But Lete said we shouldn't stay in one place for too long." "I know, but we need to be alert while we're exploring, and we won't be if we're trudging around here tired. Why don't we find somewhere to rest for a little while? We can take turns staying awake to keep a look out." "Yeah, okay." We entered a small house on the right side of the path. Settling ourselves on a dusty pile of cushions in the corner, Irako said: "I'll keep watch first. You get some sleep." "Okay.", I said, closing my eyes. "It's kind of funny... what Lete said about us before we left", I said after a moment. "How she thought...", I let my voice trail off. "Yeah... go figure", Irako said. Exhausted, I let my head droop onto his shoulder. He put his arm around me, and before I fell asleep I briefly thought about how I felt safe for the first time since I had arrived in this village.

I woke up with a start. Something was wrong. I could sense it. "Irako ?", I called out, "Irako, where are you?". No response. I shivered. I called out his name, again and again. Still no response. I got up and notice that the front door was wide opened. It was still pitch black outside. Where could he have gone? I noticed the light of a flame coming from further away. It lead to a building with huge red lanterns on each side of its entrance. And I also saw the inscription carved out in the wood, above the entrance front door. This building was a brothel ! Lete had told us about a brothel owner and her accomplice. There was a faint scent in the air. I recognized it immediately. It was Irako's scent. So he was here. I was still reeling from the shock of everything we had learn from Kukani and Lete. I was in no mood to meet Lady Mubana Oori and her friend, Xeili Nungti, no matter who they were.

Off course, when you don't want something to happen, it usually does happen. And at the worst time. I was looking at a very bizarre painting when I had a vision: An old woman speaking with a younger woman. The young woman was wearing a beautiful peach coloured gown,. With many layers of tissues. She had lustrous jet black hair. Her cleavage was a bit too revealing for my taste. And then, I recognized her. She had been one of the first ghosts to attack me upon my arrival in the village. Only, when I had met her, her dress and hair were grey, covered in cobwebs. And her tongue was cut off. In my vision, she was talking and looking pretty healthy. I also recognized the old woman as being the one who had told me I'd be punished for my sins. She had been the ghost floating upside down, with a gash in her throat. I could see the look of cruelty and greed in both their eyes. They were laughing. There was a knock on the door. The 2 women stopped talking and got up. The door opened. I didn't saw who entered. Then, the young woman met the stranger at the door and they left together. The vision ended.

Someone appeared. The 2 women from my vision had materialized and were looking straight at me, grinning. But not moving. I took a quick snapshot. They disappeared. "Evil Matron" and "Damned Temptress" were their respective designation in the Ghost Manifesto. I came closer to the very weird painting on the wall when they reappeared together, at the same time. Only, they had now resumed their previous hideous looks. The Evil Matron was floating upside down, with that awful gash in her throat and the Damned Temptress was now everything but tempting, with her hair a total mess and her dress filthy and decayed. The Evil Matron threw a flow of imprecations and sermons at me while the Damned Temptress made an eerie sound with her mouth. In a flash, she was right in front of me and started to slapped me while the Evil Matron begun to whip me hard with an heavy wood stick. I screamed in pain and terror. I tried to take a picture but I dropped the Camera. They kept hitting me, each stroke more intense than the last one. I was about to loose consciousness when I finally got hold of the Camera. I was too weakened to aim so I just pressed the shutter button and hoped for the best. The Damned Temptress jumped back and away from me. This was my chance. I gathered every once of determination I had in me and quickly raised the Camera, subsiding my pain for a moment and photographed her again and again until she was gone. The Evil Matron let out a paralyzing scream of rage and poured out every insults she could think of. She said we would meet again and then, before I could vanquished her, she disappeared into thin air. She would return. She had said so. But when and where? I shuddered at that thought. I knew for sure I hadn't seen the last of Lady Mubana Oori and Xeili Nungti.

I had to find Irako. And fast. If only I had knew where to look. I was very worried. Things would be much more complicated then we had expected. And there was still so much to be done and to resolve. Irako had probably lost all of his school companions. My mother and my aunt Tei-Ku were still missing and we had no clues to their whereabouts. Both myself and him were marked for the next Tainted Love ritual. And before stopping this ritual, we would have to find out more about the Shattered Illusions and prevent it. We also had to meet Lete and Kukani's friend, the one who knew too much and had took his secret to the grave. And last but not least, the mystery of the orange mist, the honey and the fire… Where to begin? Where to look? Was there any hopes at all?

I was once gain drawn to the painting on the wall. It was very bizarre and made fell queasy inside. At the same time, it also looked very familiar. Why? And then, it hit me. The faces in the far background were those of my mother and my aunt Tei-Ku. But I had to look very closely to notice this. There was a look of terror in my mother's eyes. She seemed to be begging for help. Aunt Tei-Ku, however, was as pale as a ghost, no pun intended. She looked lifeless, her body crumpled on the floor. All of a sudden, the image shifted. I saw a building that looked like a small manor. The image got bigger and bigger. And I got another shock. Through one of the manor's window, I could see… Irako! And he was looking at me. I was speechless. He was banging his hands on the window. And then, he started to gently blow on it until it was mist covered. With his finger, he wrote something. I looked even closer. He had written: Shikoju, help me! I could see Irako and obviously, he could see me. Could he also hear me? I asked him where he was and how could I help him? He wrote that he was trapped inside a manor but had no idea where it was or how I could get there. I unhooked the painting from the wall and heard a loud click. A portion of the wall had opened itself. There was a secret passageway inside the brothel! Irako informed me, by writing on the window, that everytime I moved, the whole manor inside the painting would shake like it would in an earthquake. Therefore, for the moment, it was best that I steadied it on the ground. Just when I was about to ask Irako if I should enter the passageway, a wailing exploded behind me. It was a ghost. And then another, and another. First thing I knew, I was surrounded by 5 women. Those women were not prostitutes, judging by how elegantly they were dressed. Ladies of the royal court, without a doubt. All 5 of them had scratched their nails on their face until blood had appeared. And they were all crying, lamenting and wailing in despair and agony. Tears falling down on their face. And all 5 of them were trying to grab me, weeping with hopeless cries. "Our lady. Why? Why? She was so beautiful, so young, so innocent." "This is our fault, we are guilty" "Our mistress is gone forever now. Shame on us, shame on us" "We failed her. We are unworthy". Each one of them was attacking me at the same time. One would push me, the other would shake me and so on. I was outnumbered. I shot 2 of them with the Camera. They cried even louder. The other 3 retaliated by pushing me and shaking me even harder. I kept taken pictures. It seemed to take forever before they all finally vanished. I was exhausted. I stood still for a moment, to regain my energy. And then, I notice something awful. While fighting "The 5 Weeping Ladies In Waiting", as they were identified in the Ghost Manifesto, I had accidentally, with my foot, pushed the painting into the brazier. Which I had believed to be extinct when I had entered the brothel. Horrified, I watched helplessly as the painting was slowly burning. I could see Irako screaming in terror as the manor was being engulfed in flames. As the painting was burning, I saw smoke passed under the front door of the brothel. I quickly opened it and almost suffocated. There was a heavy dark smoke rummaging through the air, as if the entire village was burning along with the painting. I couldn't see anything anywhere. Only smoke. There was no way I could get outside. What was going on?

I had no other choice but to enter the dark passageway and run as fast as possible, not knowing where it would lead me. I took one last look at the burning painting. I couldn't see Irako anymore. I wiped the tears falling down on my cheeks, summoned all my courage and entered the passageway. What other kind of strange and terrifying events awaited me at the other end? Would I ever see Irako, my mother and my aunt alive again?

"Please don't let them be dead, please don't let them be dead", I thought as I made my way through the dark passageway. I felt a presence slightly ahead of me and I tightened my grip on the Camera. Suddenly, Nari, Irako's friend who we had met in the bell tower appeared out of nowhere. I screamed and raised the Camera. "Don't shoot!" she cried. I stepped backwards and didn't lower the camera, but I didn't shoot. Her shirt was still bloodstained and there was still a gaping hole in her chest, but her face was different from the cold, deadly glare I had seen the first time. It was more... normal. It was how I imagined it had been when Irako had known her. "Why shouldn't I?", I asked warily. "You attacked us earlier." "I know I can't explain why I did that," she said, "But please, trust me, I'm not going to now. I want to help you and Irako." "Why?" I asked. I knew Kukani and Lete could be trusted, but this ghost had attacked me earlier. "You and Irako have been marked for that ritual, right?" she said. I nodded. "I haven't been here as long as the other ghosts, but from what I've heard, being trapped in this village as a ghost is hell enough, but if the sorcerer and sorceress perform the ritual, we'll all know the true meaning of hell. The only way our souls can be set free is if the ritual is stopped." "But you don't know any more about the ritual than that?" "No." "And you don't know why you attacked me earlier?" "No... I know a lot of ghosts have reasons. Anger tainted souls, insanity, but some of us... just can't help it. I think maybe the Sorcerer and the Sorceress controls some of them to do their dirty work. "So how do I know you won't randomly attack me while we look for Irako?" "You'll just have to trust me. I care about Irako as much as you do. I want to help." I lowered the Camera Obscura. It couldn't hurt to have another ghost on my side. "Do you have any special powers?", I asked as we headed down the passageway. Nari rolled her eyes. "I'm dead, but I don't have magic powers or anything. Some ghosts do, and all of us have some certain powers, but I don't have anything useful." "Do you have any idea where Irako is?" "Probably at the Sorcerer's mansion. I heard something about each sacrifice having to be separated before the ritual and go through three phases." That made me think of something. "Have you heard anything about fire, honey, or orange mist?", I asked. "No," she said, looking confused. "Why?" I explained what Kukani had told us. "Well, it might have something to do with the three phases. I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "Why haven't they come for me yet then?" "I don't know. I told you, I haven't been here as long as the others." We continued in silence for a while, then she asked, "Why did you come here anyway?", she asked me. I briefly explained about my mother and I coming to see my aunt, and not being able to find her anywhere when we arrived. "They must be in that mansion, though", I said. "They were in that picture... what would they be doing here, though?" I lapsed into silence, remembering the piece of information Kukani had given us about someone close to us holding a dark secret. I had forgotten before now. Could it be my aunt? Or even my mother? I'd have to ask them if I found them at the mansion.

Suddenly, I heard a shriek of laughter. Looking ahead, I saw an elderly woman with a deep gash across her forehead. "Class is dismissed!", she cackled. "All The students are dead, no school tomorrow!", she chanted as she flew toward me, but Rina rushed between us and shouted: "Don't touch her!". The two fought, and Rina was pushed to the side. "Use that thing!", she cried, pointing to the Camera Obscura. I raised it, aimed, and took a few shots. The woman's laughter turned to screams and she disappeared. I checked the Ghost Manifesto, which read "Stressed Out Teacher." "That was Mrs. Tang", Nari said. "The teacher who brought us to this village…" My heart went out to her. Poor Nari. Poor Irako. All of those students... talk about a fieldtrip gone wrong. "The entrance to the mansion is just up ahead", Nari informed me. "Just up that staircase." I rushed forward, Nari trailing behind me. I hurried up the staircase, finding myself at a large set of double doors. I pushed them open, revealing a large, magnificent entrance hall. There were two staircases, one on the left and one on the right. The intoxicating smell of honey and smoke was coming from somewhere up the left one. Before I could go up it, however, my arms were seized from behind. Two regal looking attendants had grabbed me, and the Sorcerer along with Xeili , back in her elegant peach gown, appeared in front of me, smirking. "Excellent work, girl," the Sorcerer said to Nari. "How could you?", I hissed. "I'm sorry", she said. "But they already ripped out my heart, and they know tortures worse than death if I don't do what they ask." And she faded away. I was pushed roughly towards the right set of stairs. " Mubana, dear friend, come see what we got here", Xeili trilled. The Evil Matron appeared, looking exactly as she had in my vision before I fought them. "Lead the way to the room to prepare for the first phase.", Mubana Oori cackled as she walked slightly ahead while the two attendants half dragged me up the stairs. We walked down a long hallway. Mubana Oori opened a door at the end of it and the attendants pushed me inside. "We must fetch the necessary supplies for the first stage!", she exclaimed, and slammed the door behind me. I tugged at the door handle, but it was locked. The room was beautiful, fit for royalty, but there were bloodstains on the carpet and scorch marks on the walls. I felt sick. I didn't want to find out what the three phases were. How many of them had Irako had to go through so far? Were they connected to the fire, honey, and orange mist? It would explain the painting catching on fire in the seemingly extinguished brazier and the burnt honey smell. I looked around for anything useful to help me escape. A painted folding screen, a gilded chair with a dark red ceremonial kimono hanging over it, and a large altar at the other end of the room. Nothing. Would Lete or Kukani be able to help me? They were the only ghosts on my side, but how much power did they had? Would I be able to get out and find Irako, my aunt, my mother? Would I get out of this village alive?

Out of curiosity, I tried on the dark red kimono. Not surprisingly, it fitted me perfectly. I took it off and threw it down. I was totally pissed off. Nari would be very sorry if I met her again. And I was trying very hard to comprehend why would ordinary human beings, like the 2 guards that had threw me in here, be helping a bunch of evil ghosts from the past to recreate an ancient sadistic ritual. I tried not to let anger, frustration and panic overwhelm me. I was dying to explore that staircase I had seen before being locked up in this room. I looked carefully at the altar. It gave me the creeps. It was soiled with stains of dried blood. I couldn't even imagine what must have happened here. I shifted my gaze to the folding screen. The scene painted on it was very awkward. There were some bees emerging from a large pound of liquid that looked like honey. Fire was surrounding the pound and an orange mist was coming down from the sky. Many little hearts broken in 2 pieces were painted on the ground, beside the pound. In the opposite corner, there was a stone bridge with a woman holding a parasol in her hands. A tear of blood was on her cheek. Out of curiosity, I looked behind the folding screen. I found a wicker chest. I was wondering what could be in it, hoping I wouldn't find something gross like silkworm threads or a dead body. I started to open it when I heard a noise coming from the altar. There were 2 nuns standing there. With horribly distorted facial features. As if their face had melted in a fire. And then, I remembered that at the monastery, before meeting Irako, I had pictured a nun like that, identified as Disfigured Nun # 3. Which of course I led me to believe there might be other nuns.

These 2 seemed to be looking for me. Because I was behind the folding screen, they couldn't see me. Fortunately, my captors had forgotten to remove my backpack so I still had the Camera Obscura with me and everything else. I silently came from behind the folding screen, raised the Camera and started shooting like crazy. Before either one of them could react, they both vanished. I returned to the wicker chest and opened it. I don't know why I did that. To this day, I still regret doing it. As soon as I lifted the lid, a nauseating odour jumped down my throat. I almost vomited. I looked inside and saw thick black hair spattered with blood. And then, I saw layers of tissues underneath the hair. Stupidly believing it was a wig with some clothing disguises, I reached down to grab it. It was very heavy. I took it out and screamed. It wasn't a wig. It was a head! A human head! Someone had been decapitated and their head had been put in this chest. I threw it away and almost fainted from the shock. How disgusting. I looked inside the chest one more time and saw that the clothes were on a body! I was about to become hysterical when I noticed something familiar. On the corpse's right wrist was a bracelet. A beautiful and ancient bracelet, made of ivory and silver, with small pearls imbedded in it. A family heirloom. And not just any family. Mine. This bracelet had been passed down through generations in my family. And I knew who it belonged to. I also saw a small tattoo of a hummingbird hovering above a lavender rose on the victim's ankle. I only knew one person in the world with that tattoo.

Crawling on shivering knees and fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall down from my eyes, I went to the head, raised it up and turned it around. My heart broke into a thousand pieces. It was my aunt Tei-Ku's. I cried loudly, like I had done after learning of my father's death, which I might have been responsible for. My beloved aunt was dead. But why? And who had done this to her? Which ghost had ordered my aunt's death?

I was utterly devastated. I needed Irako more than ever now. I couldn't bear to think what might had happened to my mother. And to him too. Suddenly, I was overcome by madness and anger. I started to trash the entire room, throwing and kicking everything that I could. It was while doing this that I displaced the wicker chest. I saw something on the floor and stopped moving and hollering. A trap door. On the floor. It had been hidden beneath the wicker chest. I grabbed its handle, opened the trap and got inside. There was a ladder. I proceeded to climb it down. It must have been the longest ladder in the world because it seemed to go on forever. I finally arrived on a firm ground. However, I was in the dark. Total darkness. No lights at all. By touching my surroundings, I knew I was in a very narrow corridor. Very narrow. I could barely advance. I prayed no ghosts appeared while I was here otherwise, I'd be in a lot of trouble. Of course, I immediately began to tremble with anguish. And then, I heard the voices. Many voices were whispering. I couldn't distinguish what they were saying. It sounded like some sort of mantra. It was really nerve wracking. And then, drops of cold and putrid water began to fall on my head. Where the hell was that corridor leading me to?

The space between the walls got larger, all of a sudden. I kept on walking and knocked myself into a door. It wasn't locked. I opened it and entered a very unusual room. It had an oval shape and empty. No furnitures. It was dimly lit but still, I could see well enough. There was another door at the end of the room. On each side of the rooms, large windows were incrusted within the walls. I walked to one window and saw… a fish. Or actually, a dead fish. This room was underwater! I was astounded. Rows and rows of dead fishes floating in the water. Very disturbing. I was peering out the window when I heard something knocked on the other window. I turned around to face it, got a little closer and froze in place. There was a man looking at me! I recognized him just as I was about to start screaming. It was the man I had encountered when I had been at the lake for the first time, trying to find Irako. I calmed down and got closer to the window, trying not to be repulsed by his appearance. I had to talk to him, like Lete and Kukani had told me to. "Hello", I said nervously. "We met earlier, remember? You're a friend of Lete Zhen and Kukani, right?" It's at that moment I realized I was talking to a corpse. The poor man's body was floating in-between waters. What a fool I was! I turned around and shrieked. This time, he was really there, standing in front of me. "Sorry I startled you" he said. "You know who I am, don't you?" he asked me. "Yes, I know" I responded, "and… hum… your… body is floating on the other side of that window", I added. "Oh, that must have scared you. My deepest apologies". "It's ok. Not your fault. So, your friends Lete and Kukani said you might be able to help me and give me some answers to questions that are puzzling me", I said quickly. And without pausing, I told him everything I knew, what happened recently and asked him all the questions I wanted to.

"Alas, there's not much I can tell you" he told me in a sad tone." Crossing the Limbos affects my memory in a terrible way. Anyway, here's what I know. Kukani and I were both murdered by the Beekeeper. And so was the "Bearer Of Shame", as you know her. The fire, the honey and that very strange and particular orange mist are indeed connected to the three phases of the Tainted Love ritual. A young and totally pure maiden is needed to perform the Shattered Illusions ritual. As you already know, this ritual proceeds the Tainted Love ritual." "Yes, I know", I said sombrely. "I already have been marked for the next Tainted Love ritual. And so have my friend Irako. Which means another girl is needed for the Shattered Illusions ritual, right? But Irako and I are the only ones alive in this village. At least I think so. There are the guards at the sorcerer's manor but they're grown men so obviously, it can't be them." "And yet, a young girl as already been selected", the drowned man said. "How can that be?", I asked. " Who is she and where did she came from" "I don't know. She is younger than you and defenceless. By now, you must have figured out that your mother is the only one left who can tell you about this big secret Kukani told you about, right?" "I guess so. But what could my mother tell me? Does she know how to end this nightmare" "No, but she knows something else. Something important she has to tell you before it's too late. Remember that this village is cursed. Love, for all the villagers here, really did begot all evil. And even outsiders are prey to this. Your mother is the perfect example." "What is that supposed to mean?", I asked, slightly outraged. "It's not my duty to tell you. Only she can do that. I must now depart. One last thing. The dark sorcerer and his wife, along with Lady Mubana Oori, Xeili Nungti, the Beekeeper and the Unholy High Priestess are all creatures of pure evil, rotten to the core. Beware of them and fear their wrath. They are capable of anything. They are, as we speak, joining forces. Goodbye and good luck, you'll need it". And with that, he was gone. My mind was spinning quite fast. They were joining forces? How? What did that meant exactly? And what was that mysterious speech about my mother all about?

Impatient to get out of this place, I ran to the other door. It was locked. I breathed loudly, slightly irritated, and went to the other door. It was locked too! How was I going to get out of this room now? Before I could find the answer, something happened. The windows on both side started to crack open wide and water rushed in! Or so I thought, at first. The water raised to my shoulders and stopped pouring in. And then, the drowned man came back. Only this time, he seemed to look not so friendly anymore.

"Hey, what's happening here?", I asked him, "can you help me to…" "My secrets were my own. You shall now suffer my suffering", he yelled. "huh? What do you …" but before I could finish my phrase, he added "pay the price of your indiscretion with your life. My grave shall be yours as well" and he swam toward me, ready to attack me. I took the Camera and shot him once. He pulled me under water. I couldn't see a thing. Would the water affect the Camera's power? I struggled to get free from his embrace. I photographed him again. And again. He vanished. That was the end of "Secret Holder". And water started to pour in again. I was going to drown in this forsaken room. Panic threatened to raise within me. I was certain my last moment had come when I collided with the drowned man's body. And saw something glittering in the pocket of his shredded shirt. A brass key. I took it and move to the door. I inserted the key in the door's keyhole and it unlocked. I opened it and was thrown on the hard concrete floor of another corridor. With my foot, I slammed the door shut. I had banged my head pretty hard. A little blood was dripping from my right temple. I felt so dizzy. Visions started to cloud my line of thoughts. The terrorized look on my aunt Tei-Ku's' face was stinging me. I still could smell the scent of her blood and see her head separated from her body. People being pulled apart, limb from limb. Cries of despair and fright. Decayed corpses. Fire ravaging unconscious people. It was too much to deal with. Where was my mother? What did she knew? Had she done something awful? Where was Irako? When would I find them both? And in what shape would they be? I lost consciousness. Everything went black.

"Shikoju! Shikoju! Please, wake up!" It was Irako... his voice sounded so far away...and everything was so dark and I couldn't breathe. I coughed violently, coughing up water. The darkness was fading, and I could make out a blurry figure kneeling over me. I could breathe more easily now, and finally everything came into view. I sat up, still coughing. I was sitting on a damp stone floor, staring at a very relieved looking Irako. "Wh...where'd the water go?" I asked. "It drained out when I opened that door," he said, indicating to the door that had been locked earlier. "It all flowed out...and I saw you flow out along with it, and when you weren't moving...I was so worried. Are you okay?" "As well as can be expected after nearly drowning," I said. "Where are we?" "Another underground tunnel. There was a trapdoor in my room that led down here." "Same in my room... my God, Irako, what happened?" For Irako's face was marred with severe looking burns. I gingerly reached out and touched one and he winced. "The fire phase. They left to prepare for the honey phase and I escaped while they were gone. Have they done anything to you yet?" he asked urgently. I shook my head. "No, I found my way out before they returned. But before I left I found...I found..." I became choked up and tears filled my eyes. "What did you find?" Irako coaxed. "My aunt Tei-Ku... her head cut off... and her body." "Oh, Shikoju!" Rako exclaimed, hugging me. "I'm so sorry." "No, don't... I mean, you've lost even more loved ones than I have in this village...I have no right to be crying considering what you've been through." "It doesn't matter whether you've lost one loved one or fifty. It still hurts. What about your mother?" "She's alive," I said. "Kukani and Lete's friend told me." "You've met him?" he asked. "What did he say?" I briefly explained what he had told me and how differently he had acted when the room filled with water. "Odd.." Irako said thoughtfully. "And he didn't say what the horrible secret was?" "No... anyway, I suppose we should look for her. We'll just have to watch out for the guards". "There's no way I'm going back to that mansion." "But what about the girl chosen for the shattered illusions thing? I think I heard her crying down the hall while I was in my room. Shouldn't we help her first?" "But what about my mother?" "If they haven't killed her by now I think she'll be okay for a little longer. I don't know how much time the girl has." I nodded reluctantly and followed Irako down the tunnel. Irako stopped abruptly. "What's that on the ground up there?" "What?" I asked, squinting into the dark. "There," he said, shining the flashlight ahead. "It's kind of glinting." I walked forward and knelt down, finding a gold ring with a sparkling amethyst set into it. "It's my mother's engagement ring," I said. "My father got it for her twenty years ago..." I reached down to pick it up, and as soon as my fingers touched it, the damp tunnel disappeared. Another vision.

The sky was dark and sparkled with silver stars over my father and his new wife's large home. I could see into a brightly lit window upstairs my father and his wife laughing, clinking glasses of wine, my father looking happier than he ever had when he lived with us. A strange hatred rose within me at the sight. Suddenly I saw my mother round the corner of the street and approach the house. She quietly went round to the backyard and I followed her. What was she carrying? I saw a moment later as I drew closer. A container of gasoline. Quietly, she began pouring it out, trailing it all around the house. My father and step father were too... preoccupied to look out the window and notice. Once she was finished, she backed away to a safe distance and pulled a match box out of her pocket. She pulled out one, lit it, then held it to the rest of the matches in the box. She then threw the box at the house, and there was a great explosion of flames. It spread unnaturally quickly, and I saw my father's and his wife's expressions turn from happiness to panic, dropping their glasses and frantically running to the exit, but it was too late. The house was completely engulfed in flames.I snapped back to the present, surprised to see the tunnel and Irako's curious face instead of my father's burning house. Then I collapsed to the ground, sobbing. "Shikoju, are you alright?" Irako asked. "Not really. I just had another vision. A very disturbing one. If this is true, then it means that… that…" but I couldn't bring myself to tell him. "Hikoju, what did you saw? What happened in your vision?" "I saw… my mother. Starting a fire at my father's house. She… killed my father". And again, I bursted into tears. "Oh Shikoju, don't worry. I'm sure there's a logical explanation to your vision" "But Irako, so far, all of my visions have came true. They've never been wrong. And what will I do if my mother killed my father?" "Well, I'm not sure. We'll cross that bridge when we get there".

We continued our walk into the tunnel. When we reached the end, we found out it was impossible to open the trap door from beneath. We climbed the ladder back down. "This is impossible", I said. "We are now trapped underground" "There's got to be a way out." Irako responded. "Let's search"  
And so we did. Nothing. We found nothing. We were now back in the room under the lake. We both sat on the floor, exhausted. I was staring at my mother's ring when it slipped from my hand and fell on the floor. I moved my hand down to pick it up and realize the ring was stuck in a small crevice. And cold air was flowing through the crevice. "Irako, I feel a breeze coming from underneath this stone slab. Help me remove it", I said. Removing the stone slab was excruciating. We were both sweating like pigs and our fingernails were bleeding from the effort. Finally, it came off. We looked into the hole. It was pitched black and there seemed to be no ladder in it. "Can you feel this?" I asked my friend. There was a very powerful wind coming from the hole. "Shall we jump in"? "This could be dangerous Shikoju. But it also seems to be our only solution. Let's hope we don't kill ourselves doing so. I'll go first and then, you wait a little and jump after me. Alright?" "Alright. And good luck!" And with that, Irako jumped into the hole. After a few moments, I heard a splashing sound. Following by a struggling sound, as if someone was being pushed down into water. "Irako, what's going on?" I yelled. But all I got as an answer was a scream of terror and the sound of water being moved violently. I took a breath and jumped in. After a short free fall, I crashed into cold water. And then I found out why Irako had screamed. We had both plunged directly into a whirlpool. A whirlpool of blood! And the, I was pulled within under. I screamed as loud as I could as blood entered my mouth. Everything became blurry and I almost fainted.

Just when my lungs where on the verge of exploding, I was thrown out of the blood whirlpool. I was now in a small pond. Irako was kneeling beside me. We looked at each other, more confused than ever. From where we were standing, we could see what must have been the sorcerer's manor in the distance. We could also see a small bridge crossing a river. "Are you ok?" Irako asked me with concern. "Yes. What about you?" "I'm fine. Shall we go over there?" "I think so. By the way, this is so creepy. The scenery reminds me of what was painted on the folding screen of the room I was locked in" "Really?" "Yes. What was painted on yours?" "Well, there was a…" but before he could answer, we saw a woman holding a parasol appear on the bridge. It was Lete!

Both overjoyed, we ran as fast as possible toward her, calling out her name. She was turning her back to us. "Lete, Lete! We're so glad to see you again. We need your help!" I exclaimed. "Really?", she asked, still turning her back to us. "Then I must help you, mustn't I? I'll help you indeed, my darlings. Help you die!" She added in a cryptic tone. "Huh? What do you mean?" Irako asked her as fear begun to creep up my spine. "Allow me to show you both what it is that I mean" she said as she started to make the parasol spin really fast into her hands. She quickly turned around to face us and started to sing a few very high opera notes only a classical soprano could reach. Pain immediately shot through our entire bodies. The sky took a strange color as a thick orange mist rose from nowhere and surrounded us. A powerful wind gushed in, making all of Lete's long and curly red hairs moved as if they were serpents. Her eyes blackened, her fingernails grew into sharp shards and a 20 foot long snake-like tongue came out of her mouth as she kept on singing. A few strands of her hair thrusted forward and circled Irako, coiling around him, as she slapped him with her tongue. Before I could comprehend what was happening, she used another strand of hair to grab me by the ankle and I fell to the ground. And then, she proceeded to pull me toward her as she was doing with Irako and slapping us both at the same time. The pain in my ears produced by her singing was stabbing my brain like crazy. I took the Camera and snapped a single shot only. I couldn't keep still because she was pulling me too fast. I threw the Camera at Irako when she tried to snatch it from me. He took a shot and threw it back at me. And so on. The more pictures we took, the more her singing increased. She had pulled us both to her feet, ready to finish us, when finally, I took another picture of her and then, she bursted into sparks of soft pink lights. Irako and I both looked at each other and both saw tears falling on each other's cheeks. A good and kind-hearted friend had changed into a powerful enemy hell-bent on killing us and we had been forced to vanquish her. In the Ghost Manifesto, she was now "Prima Donna from Hell". We hugged each other for a moment and then, resumed our walk toward the manor, holding hands.

When arrived at the manor's ground, we realized that we were actually behind it and not in the front. We pushed the gate to get in. As soon as we penetrated in the garden, the gate closed up fast with a loud bang. We both jumped. The garden was making us feel nervous. It was quite dark and smelled awful. We could see old broken bones lying on the ground. We were discussing how to get into the manor since the only back entrance was locked, there were no other visible doors, the windows were locked shut too and we couldn't access the front yard, when an alarming buzzing sound was heard.  
"Hello, hello. We meet again" said a familiar voice behind us. We turned around and saw Kukani  
"Kukani, are you alright? You don't seem happy to see us" I said nervously. "Alright? How could I be alright, you obnoxious little twerp? You just eliminated my only friend here!" she screamed, fury blazing in her eyes. "Wow, wait a minute here, Kukani", Irako said. "We had no choice, she turned evil and attacked us" "So what? You should have just let her put you both out of your misery. She was only giving you both what you deserve for meddling in other people's business." "What? You don't meant that, do you?" I asked fearfully, knowing much too well what was happening. "You bet I do mean it! And guess what? Payback's a bitch! Enjoy!" Her entire being transformed before our very eyes. Her face had become a disgusting blotch of bee sting inflicted wounds, her head was jerking from one side to the other and back and forth. And bees started coming out of her mouth and fast flying toward us. I raised the Camera, as fast as I could to take a snapshot but she ran past me and jumped out of sight. We heard her laugh and she came running back behind me and pushed me hard on the ground. I dropped the Camera. Before I could get it back, the bees stung me all at once. Irako was laying unconscious on the ground. I crawled to the Camera as thousands of burning stings pierced my skin. Everytime I took a step toward the Camera, Kukani would unleash another swarm of bees. The situation was desperate.

Suddenly, a flash blinded me and I heard Kukani scream. There was another flash. Someone had picked up the Camera and was using it. I shifted my gaze and froze in place. In the garden, there was a young girl, about my age, maybe slightly younger. She looked a little dazed and confused yet confidant and determined. And she was taking pictures of Kukani. She smiled shyly at me and resumed taking pictures of this new foe. Kukani began to shake violently, let out a huge cry and disappeared. "The Fanatic Slave" would now rest in peace. "Thank you", I told her, out of breath. "Who are you?", I asked her as I moved toward Irako. Before I could try to wake him up, she stepped between him and me and gently pushed me away from him. I noticed huge spots of blood on her clothing. She kneeled before me and pointed at Irako with a movement of the head. "What's wrong? Why won't you let me help him?" I asked after she once again delicately pushed me away fromIrako. She opened her mouth and a harsh deep sound came out from her throat as blood trickled out of her mouth. Her tongue had been cut off! Very recently! I was horrified! And then, I knew how she was. "Oh no, you're the young maiden chosen for the Shattered Illusions ritual, aren't you?" She sadly nodded.

"I'm so sorry. How did you get here? And how did you know about the Camera?" Off course, she couldn't answer. However, she could move. And to my surprise, she got up, walked to Irako and kicked him hard in the face with her foot. I was stunned. Before I could react, she pointed a finger at Irako and then, to one of the manor's window, high above the ground. "I don't understand. What are you trying to tell me?" Again, she pointed at Irako, and made a no sign with her head. She then pointed the same window again and this time, made a yes sign. "I'm not sure I follow. Do you mean that this is not Irako?" She nodded positively. I slowly walk toward Irako and saw that he hadn't been stung at all by the bees, not even once. And I remembered that when Lete's evil incarnation, "Prima Donna from Hell", had attacked us, he had not lost any energy even though she had grabbed him too. "I'm totally lost here. What's going on?" She pointed at the window again. "Is Irako all the way up there?" She nodded. At that moment, the unconscious "Irako" stood up. He bursted out laughing. His face began to shimmer away and in flash, standing before the young girl and me was that weird boy I had previously encountered in the underground passage after the real Irako had fallen into the ancient well.

"You again! What is the meaning of this? Why are you pretending to be Irako?" I asked, totally furious. "So that it would be easier to lure you back here, foolish girl!" He said coldly. "And as for you", he added menacingly, looking at the young maiden, "you have a duty to accomplish and you'll regret escaping and doing what you just did". "Get away from her, you bastard!" I yelled. I raised the Camera and took a shot. But just like the first time I had photographed him, nothing happened. I was dumbfounded. I looked at the young girl, hoping for a solution. The boy laughed again and grabbed us both by one hand. Then, a sort of miracle happened. All the way above us, there was an exploding sound. Startled, we all looked up and saw a heavy bronze Buddha statue come toward us. It had been thrown from the window the girl at pointed at. I took her by the hand and we both ducked away. The statue landed on the boy and knocked him unconscious. And then, I saw the real Irako jumped from the window!

For a moment, it seemed like time stood still. My heart skipped a beat. The girl and I both watched in horror at Irako came speeding toward the ground. At the very last moment, a branch from a massive tree stopped his fall but catapulted him straight into a heavy mulberry bush. I ran to him.  
"Irako!" "Oh, hi Shikoju. Happy to see me?" Irako said, wincing painfully. "Don't worry, I'm alright. As much as it is possible to be alright after nearly surviving the fire phase and the honey phase, not to mention a very high fall and landing butt naked in a mulberry bush". I then noticed that he was indeed naked, trying to hide his anatomy the best he could. And that he, unlike the fake Irako, also had many burn marks and that he was covered in honey.

He quickly explained everything to me and how he had rescued Saimoo, the young maiden. He had seen me from above, after setting Saimoo free from her room. However, he had been unable to come help me so he had send her after telling her what she needed to know and do. "What do we do now?" I asked, after telling him everything that I had happened since seeing him for the last time. "Well, for starter, if you could find me some clothes, I'd appreciate it" he said with a grin. "Here. Take this", I said as I handed him my blouse. I was wearing a t-shirt underneath. Saimoo ripped off the bottom of her kimono. He put my blouse on and made himself a loincloth with Saimoo's piece of tissue. "Hum, you now look like a very feminine and also very thin Sumo wrestler" I said, as Saimoo and I tried not to laugh at Irako's appearance. My blouse being a shiny pink color with floral designs on it, it was kind of hard to keep a straight face. The improvised loincloth was white with a big red spot right in the middle, and since it was kind of really tight, it didn't leave much to imagination. "Why are all those ghosts turning evil?" I wondered out loud. "Beats me", Irako responded. "The only thing I think I can explain is why Kukani had those bees coming from her mouth. She must have been killed by the Beekeeper. As for the other mysteries, Shikoju, your guest is as good as mine", he added. "When I was locked in the room, before I escaped, I saw a folding screen with a very bizarre painting on it. Was there one in your room too? And if so, what was on it?" I asked Irako. "Yes, I had one too. The painting was…" Before he could answer me, we heard a scuffling sound. The fake "Irako" had regain consciousness and had taken Saimoo hostage.

"Let her go!" Irako and I both shouted together at the same time. "In your dreams, kiddies", he responded with an evil laugh. "I'm taking that brat where she needs to be right now. The next time you see her, she will be a corpse. And then, both of you will be able to join her in the afterlife".  
"Never!", I said, angrier than I had ever been in my whole life. "We will not be sacrificed and we will not let you take Saimoo anywhere". "Really? I beg to differ, sweetheart!", he replied with a spooky grin. "I hope you like surprises because we have got a few ones planned for you". "What do you mean?" Irako asked him, trying to set Saimoo free from the boy's clutches. "And who's we?".  
"You'll find out soon enough", and he bursted out laughing again.

At this very precise moment, we heard a lamentation. At first, it was barely audible and then, it grew louder and louder. "Together in life, together in death", a voice echoed from high above the ground. Irako and I both looked up. We could see 2 people standing on the roof of the manor, getting ready to jump. And without warning, they jumped! As soon as they reached the ground, they repeated the same phrase: "Together in life, together in death". Holding hands and coming toward us were the Broken-Neck Man and the Broken-Neck Woman! Again! "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!", "take care, kiddies. We'll meet again soon!", the mysterious boy said disappearing from our sight, still holding Saimoo. "NO!" I screamed. "Saimoo!". But it was too late. I feared we would not see her alive again. Unfortunately, as we were to find out later, that fear was to come true. "Together in life, together in death!" both ghosts screamed, floating toward us, their head turned in an odd angle. As I prepared to use the Camera, an hysterical laughter erupted. Soon enough, the Insane Groom and his Insane Bride joined the party.

"Not them again too! Great!", I said. "The more, the merrier. Anybody else wants to celebrate with us?" I asked ironically, as all 4 ghosts approached us slowly. Off course, I got a response before I could take care of our 4 enemies. We heard someone crying. An ugly and obese woman had came out of nowhere. She was so ugly, it was hard to describe her face. Her eyes were crossed-sided. She had lots of scars and purplish pimples. Her teeth were a bright yellow. She was so fat she had a double shin. "I need to be loved", she cried. "Send me a lover, please. Please, somebody, anybody, love me. Love me!" "I want to be loved", she kept on whining as she inched herself toward us. Her breath was so foul it made me dizzy. "I want to be loved! I need to be loved!", said a mocking voice from the other side. "Not me!", said another woman, "Never again! No more! Freedom is all I want. No man will ever enslave me again. You hear me? NEVER AGAIN! I'M FREE!" She was wearing traditional mourning clothing but seemed very happy about it. She dance and swirled all the way to us before blowing us kisses. And then, all six of them proceeded to attack.

"Irako, run and hide!" I commanded. "Easy to say, Shikoju" Irako answered as the happy woman blew kisses at him and the obese woman tried to imitate her, only sending her rotten belches into Irako's face. "Love, love, love! It's all about love! Ha!Ha!Ha!'' said the Insane Groom. "I'll love you forever and ever" he added, turning to his wife. "Hi!Hi!Hi!Hi!Hi! And so will I, my beloved, so will I!" the Insane Bride answered. "Together in life, together in death", the 2 broken-neck ghosts added. "Love me! Love me! I need to be loved!" the obese woman whined. "I'm free. No more slave to a man. Never again!" the happy woman cheered.

At first, I thought I'd go insane too and would never be able to do it. Eventually, I was able to defeat all of them, hoping not to see any of them again. The task had only made me more determined than ever. "The Merry Widow" and "The Lonely Spinster" were our newest foes. After we both regain our composure and caught our breath, we tried to find a way into the manor. We couldn't find any.

"Shikoju, I must tell you something. On the folding screen in my room, I saw…" but Irako never finished his sentence. "Shikoju, Irako! Come over here! Quick!" a voice cried. It came from under the bridge, near the blood pond. "Nari!", Irako and I both said, surprised. We went to her. "You traitor!", I yelled at her. "You betrayed us". I was so mad at her. "How could you, Nari? I thought we were friends, thought you cared about me", Irako said sadly. "I had no choice. I was forced to do what I did", she replied. "Shame on you", I said, outraged. "Have you got no self-esteem at all? No sense of loyalty?" "What do you want with us?", Irako demanded. "I have come here to amend myself. I have very important infos", Nari answered. "Listen to this. In order to stop the Tainted love ritual once and for all, you… have to…someone…someone must… right into…before…". She staggered. "NO! NO! Please, NO!" "I BEG YOU! NOT AGAIN!" "Nari, what's wrong with you? What's happening?" Irako asked as Nari began to shiver ferociously. "Irako, I loved you", she said, suddenly calm, her long black hair covering her face as her head tilted downward. "I loved you… but you didn't noticed me. You only saw me as a friend. You never saw the woman in me. The woman who loved you more than life itself. But you couldn't careless" "What? Nari, what are you talking about? We've been classmates since kindergarten. You were like a sister to me. I cared tremendously about you, you know that", Irako told her. "Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha! You cared? You cared? You didn't loved me. Not the way I loved you all these years." "Oh Nari, I'm so sorry. I never had a clue about your true feelings for me. You should have told me. I'm so sorry, really." "It's too late to be sorry now. How quickly you've replaced me, haven't you?" she asked sarcastically. "Replaced you? I don't understand". "With that so-called innocent whore standing beside you!" she hollered. I was totally shocked. Nobody had ever said things like that to me before. "But it's alright", she continued. "I will kill her to set you free from the spell she has cast on you and then, you can join me in the afterlife. But first things first. Ready to die, bitch?" she said, turning to me. "Face my wrath, you miserable heartbreaker"! she screamed. Before I could react, she had started to strangle me, her face twisted with madness and anger. All I could see was the hole in her chest. Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Irako had grab the Camera, snapping shots of the now fully evil Nari. "No, my love! Don't do this to me! I love you, I love you!", Nari cried. "I'm sorry, Nari. I won't let you kill Shikoju. Goodbye Nari. Rest in peace forever.", Irako said slowly as he took one final shot. Nari disappeared. She would be remembered as "Regretful Friend".

"Oh Irako, this is terrible. I don't know what to say, except how sorry and devastated I am", I told him as we hugged. "I know, Shikoju, I know". I saw tears fell down on his cheeks. We sat silently together under the bridge for a few minutes, wondering how to get inside the manor. "Shikoju, who could that creepy boy be? Do you have any idea?" "No. We could think he's a ghost but everytime I take a picture of him, nothing happens. And yet, look at everything he was able to do to us." "I hope this nightmare ends soon. I don't think I can't bear much more of it". "Me neither", I told him. "Irako, you were about to tell me what was the painting on the folding screen of your room. Remember?" "Oh, that's right. The first thing that I saw on the painting was…" but again, he couldn't finish what he wanted to tell me about the folding screen's painting. There was a boiling sound coming from the pond. We rushed to the pound. All the blood was indeed boiling. "What's happening now?" I asked nervously. "I guess we'll find out soon enough", Irako said, pointing to the centre of the pond. Blood blasted in the air, like lave would in a volcanic explosion. Right in the middle of the pond, a figure slowly arose. It was a woman. A beheaded woman. With a lavender rose tattooed on her ankle and an ancient silver and ivory bracelet on one wrist. In a flash, she jumped out of the pond and started to come toward us, blood dripping from her clothes. She was holding her own head by the hair, with one hand. And she swung it at Irako. One time. And another. And another.

I was paralyzed by the shock. I couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. It was too much.  
"Shikoju! What are you doing?", Irako screamed in panic. "Hurry. Do something. Help me".  
"Shikoju! Shikoju! Can you hear me? Move. Quick! She's gonna hit you" he added as he stumbled to his feet to reach me. ""I can't vanquished her! I just can't!", I said as I wept. "This woman… she's… that ghost… is my aunt!" I felt to the ground as Irako watched, horrified and stunned.

I was only half aware of Irako prying the camera from my hands. I heard the camera clicking and my aunt wailing. I heard her scream, "Shikoju! Help me! Don't let him hurt me, dear!" I must have been out of my mind, because I staggered to my feet, hurried over to Shikoju and tried to wrest the camera from his grasp. "Shikoju, what are you doing? Stop, get away!" "Don't hurt her!" "She's not your aunt anymore!" "Give me the damn camera!" I tried snatching at it again, but Irako swung his arm out at me, striking me in the stomach and knocking the wind out of me, sending me stumbling to the ground. I heard more clicking, a final scream from my aunt, and when I looked up she had disappeared. I got to my feet again, ran to Irako half blinded by tears and smacked him across the face. "How could you?" I screamed. "She was attacking, what was I supposed to do?" Irako exclaimed. "She was my aunt!" "She's not the same person anymore!" "I loved her!" "Well I've had to defeat more than my fair share of loved ones in this village!" Irako shouted. I stopped sobbing abruptly.

Finding my voice, I whispered, "It doesn't matter whether you've lost one loved one or fifty. It still hurts." We stared at each other for a moment, then hugged. "I'm so sorry," I cried. "Don't be," he whispered. "I understand." We broke apart, standing in silence for a moment. Then I said, "Well...we should probably keep looking for a way in. We don't know how much time Saimoo has left." "Yeah... um... do you think we could try to find some more clothes first?" He blushed. His makeshift loin cloth had become a bit tattered after his battle. I giggled. "Yeah, good idea." We walked over to a nearby hut. Looking around, I spotted an old chest full of clothes. I knelt down and began digging through it. Suddenly I heard Irako gasp behind me. I turned around and paled. Lete and Kukani were standing in the doorway, though they looked more like their usual selves. "Thank God!" Lete exclaimed. "We'd thought they'd finished the phases." "How did you escape?" Kukani asked. "And... what are you wearing? Do all young men in the future wear such odd clothing or... put down that mystic weapon of yours! What are you trying to do, destroy us!" For Irako had hurriedly raised the Camera Obscura . "Yeah right!" he shouted. "You tried to kill Shikoju! Why should we trust you?"  
"What are you talking about?" Lete said incredulously. "We've been looking all over for you. We haven't seen you since our last meeting." "Then who attacked her, huh?" "I suppose... the Shattered Illusions ritual has started," Kukani said. "Does that mean Saimoo is already dead?" I asked worriedly. "No, it means the first phase has been completed. The silencing phase." I remembered how Saimoo's tongue had been cut out. "How many phases are there?" "Three, just like the Tainted Love ritual. I imagine the second phase will begin shortly." "We need to save her! How do we get back into the mansion?" "There's a secret door covered by ivy in the back of the mansion. It should be unlocked and unguarded." Lete and Kukani began to fade. "Our time is up," Kukani said. "We'll try to meet with you again. Good luck." They disappeared. "Well, we'd better hurry. Maybe we can save her before she has to suffer anymore," Irako said. "Yeah," I said. "Oh, here," I said, pulling a dark green man's kimono from the chest and throwing it to him. I turned around so he could have privacy putting it on. "How do I look?" he asked. "Stylish," I laughed. "Very sexy." Irako laughed. "Well, if we've gotten this far with a sense of humor still intact that has to be a good sign. Let's go."

We left the hut and headed swiftly back to the mansion. We hurried to the back, finding a beautiful garden. I was surprised how alive everything looked after all these years. Probably the only life in the whole village. I walked up to the ivy covered side of the wall and pushed the ivy aside, revealing a mouldy door. I turned the handle but it was locked. "Now what?" I asked. I heard a low sob behind me. I whirled around and found myself face to face with a petite young girl with long black hair down to her back. Her pink kimono was tattered, and her face was bruised and bloodied. "Every rose has its thorns," she whimpered. "He had his thorns." She reached out to me, but before she could hurt me, Irako attacked with the Camera, and after a few shots she was gone. The ghost manifesto labelled her as "Butchered Maiden." "So much for unlocked and unguarded," I muttered. There was a small bronze key where she stood. I picked it up, turned it in the lock and heard a satisfying click. I pulled the door open and walked inside, followed by Irako.

"Irako, you haven't told me yet what was on the painting of the folding screen in your room." "well, on the painting, I saw…" but someone else's voice cut off his. "Shikoju! Irako! We've been permitted to talk to you one last time." Inosso and Oido had returned again. "Well, we just talked a minute ago. Do you have anything else to reveal us?" asked Irako. "A minute ago?", said Kukani. "What do you mean? We haven't been able to come to you since both our souls were touched by dark energy and you were forced to vanquish us", she added. "What? That's impossible. You just told us about the secret entrance and about the Silence phase of the Shattered Illusions ritual." I exclaimed. "Shikoju, that wasn't us. I swear" Lete said. "It must have been another trick from that evil boy. Anyway, we really did become evil and you did vanquish us. This is the very last time we can talk to you both. After that, we will never meet again." "However", Kukani said, "all the informations you received is true. But I'm afraid you've been tricked again. Which means the second phase has begun: Confusion. It plays on the psychological side. And makes you more vulnerable to deception. It also means there probably is a few more traps set for you both. Beware of that boy. He's pure evil." "Is there anything you can do to help us?", I asked. "Alas, I don't think so. The 3rd phase of the Shattered Illusions ritual will occur as soon as the 2nd one is over. Just be courageous and self-confident and never let your guards down" said Lete. "Irako, you shall soon be able to speak with your friend Nari for the very last time. And then, she, just like us, will be gone forever. We must now depart for a better place, dear friends. It was nice knowing you both. Good luck to you both!" she added. "Yes, the best of luck" said Kukani. "Things might get worse before they get better but never lose hope and faith. Farewell". A very bright white light wrapped them up and they disappear. We both felt so sad, knowing we would never see them again. And Irako knew that the next time we met Nari, it would also be the last. "That was unexpected, wasn't I." I said. " I wonder how many more illusions we'll be subjected to", I added. "Me too. I wish they had told us about the 3rd phase of the Shattered Illusions ritual. Hey, look at this, on that wall", Irako said, pointing at a strange drawing on the wall behind him. There was a small recess, in the shape of a lotus flower. It looked like something might fit in there. "Hum, that's interesting", I commented. "Do you believe that whatever is the object that goes in there would unlock a secret door or something?" "Probably since there doesn't seem to be any other doors to open anyway. We're trapped here. Let's go back outside and search for a clue".

And so we went back outside. As soon as we did, we saw a woman standing on the bridge. This time, there was no doubt in my mind. This was the woman I had seen on the painting from the folding screen in my room. She turned around to face us, screamed in terror and jumped off the bridge! Surprised, we rushed toward the bridge. Once on it, we looked down but the woman was nowhere to be seen. We heard a ruffling noise. She was standing on the entrance of the bridge. We started to carefully walk toward her when another noise made us turn around. She was also standing on the exit of the bridge. "Huh, Shikoju, am I hallucinating or is that woman really on both sides of the bridge at the same time?" "No, you're not hallucinating. I see her too. But the one on the entrance looks like she fell into a pool and the other one is totally dried and holding a parasol. They must be twins!", I declared. "Indeed we are", said the wet one. "Dear sister, you and I have unfinished business"  
"You said it, my darling." The dried one answered. "it's time to settle the score and end this feud once and for all!", they both said at the same time. And with that, they lunged in each other's direction. But we were standing in the middle of the bridge. Which means that they actually attacked us, instead of attacking each other. The wet one was flailing her long wet hair at us, using it like a whip and throwing lumps of mud at us while the one was poking and hitting us with her parasol. Between receiving mud in the face and being poked in the ribs, I was able to take pictures of them both but it was quite difficult, since I could only photograph one of them at a time, which allowed the other to counterattack. As I took one final shot, the wet one threw mud in her sister's face and her sister replied by hitting her on the head with her parasol. When we looked in the Ghost Manifesto, we found out surprising information. They were labelled as "Fila and Bida, Twins of Fury and Madness". There was a short mention beneath their picture: Fila and Bida were twin sisters who lived a very long time ago. They were inseparable. Until one day, Fila met a handsome young soldier and fell in love with him. They were secretly married. Bida reacted very badly to this. She wanted her sister all for herself. She wanted to merge with her so they could be one. One night, she lured her brother-in-law on the bridge by pretending to be Fila. When he got there, she stabbed him with a poisoned dagger and threw his body in the water. As she did so, her sister arrived on the scene. In a state of panic, Bida bashed Fila on the head with her parasol. When she tried to throw her sister's lifeless body over the bridge, Fila, who was only unconscious, woke up and tried to get free from her sister's grip. As they struggled, Bida lost her balance and they both fell into the river and drowned. They both died crazy with anger.

"Irako, it's horrible some of the things people do because of love. So many tragedies that arose out of the most beautiful thing of all." "I know. It's enough to make anyone scared of falling in love."  
"That's exactly what… Oh, look! In the water where the twins fell! I see something shiny!" I said. And so we got below the bridge to pick up the shining object. "It's stuck", said Irako who was knee deep in the water, trying to get the thing that was there. "It's like something's holding it" "Here, let me help you". And I joined him. I bent down and when I did, I saw a hand. Actually, it was a skeleton's hand! And at that moment, the entire skeleton came up to the surface. And off course, its owner appeared.

The water started to simmer gently and then, a man slowly emerged from it. He was dressed like a soldier and there was a stab wound in his chest. He was Fila's husband. And he wasn't happy at all.  
"I've been fooled", he said. "Shame on you for your lies and your deception", he added as he rose his sword and slashed me with it. "Wait, I'm not Bida, I'm only … AAAARRGGHHH!", I screamed as he plunged the sword into my chest. Quickly, Irako grabbed the Camera Obscura from me and took a few shots until he disappeared. "The Deceived Warrior" would now be reunited with his beloved wife.

"Shikoju, are you ok?" "Yes, just give me a few minutes to rest", I said. "Look, I've been able to take what was in the skeleton's hand. It's a small locket in the shape of a lotus flower." "A lotus flower? Just like that indention in the wall at the manor. Come on, let's go back there." But just as we re-entered the garden, a very strange and scary event took place. Out of nowhere, the moon appeared and started to move as if it was about to take over the sun. A solar eclipse was about to happen before our very eyes. But what happen was actually a lunar eclipse. In broad daylight! The sun passed before the moon! "What in the world?", I said. "How's this possible? Have you ever heard of a lunar eclipse happening during daytime?", I asked Irako. "No, never. What a strange phenomenon. There must be… Oh! Shikoju, look! It's impossible, it's logically and scientifically impossible.!", Irako exclaimed. The eclipse was ending. But the sun wasn't reappearing. It was going away and the moon remained! And it was full. Day had become night, in a heartbeat! In the beginning of the afternoon! And then, the moon changed color. It went from white to crimson. A full moon of blood! And then, a violent earthquake shook the entire place. It only lasted 30 seconds but it scared the hell out of us both. Before we could react, a being appeared in the sky, silently hovering above us. We couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. We could only see its face, which was very ambiguous. Tears of blood were falling from its eyes. The rest of the being was surrounded by a slowly swirling crimson puff of smoke. All of a sudden, it screamed in agony. Curious, I took a picture. There was a loud bang and it went back into nothingness. The Ghost Manifesto described it as being the "Fatal Eclipse". An entity that manifest itself when the 3rd and final phase of the Shattered Illusion reaches its climax.

We had barely recuperated from the shock when something else happened. It started to rain. And it wasn't raining water. It was raining blood. Startled, Irako and I looked up at the sky and were petrified. It wasn't actually raining. It was the crimson full moon. It was bleeding! Believing it might be a ghost, I took a picture but nothing happened. The moon kept bleeding on us. We rushed back into the manor. As soon as we reached the wall with the small indentation, another violent earthquake occurred. We waited a few moments to make sure everything was alright and then, Irako inserted the lotus flower locket into the hollow recess of the wall. We heard a click. Slowly, a large portion of the wall opened. And immediately, a roaring sound was heard. We saw yellow eyes shining in the dark. And a growling sound. Something moved toward us. At first, we believed it was a beast. It looked like a wild animal. And then, we realized it was a man. A man with yellow eyes and very sharp teeth and even sharper claws. He even had a tail. Like a sort of mutant. He face was contorted with hunger and anger. Without a warning, he jumped straight at Hyotaru's throat. Without a warning, I raised the Camera and captured him on film. After a few snapshots, "The Jaguar Man" was history. His story was described in the Ghost Manifesto. A long time ago, the chief of the imperial guards fell in love with a very beautiful but cruel, calculating and cold empress who had a passion for wild and exotic animals. The empress was married to the emperor who was a noble but very naïve and boring man. And so, the empress had a few lovers because her husband was unable to satisfy her tremendous sexual appetite. The chief of the imperial guard had let the empress know of his true feelings but she had turned him down. One day, he learned she was having an affair with one of his soldier. He used the information to blackmail her into letting him into her bed. One night, she lured him into a trap and fed him to her jaguar, which had been given to her by the king of a foreign land. His spirit became trapped forever into the jaguar's body and their souls intertwined.

"Eew, gives me the creeps", I said, after closing the book. "Me too. The more we learn about everything that happened here, the more I fear what might await us.", Irako responded, as we proceeded further into the new secret place that had just opened. "Fear is a good motivation", said another voice. "And you need to be motivated if you even want to have a small chance of surviving this nightmare" "Nari!", Irako said. "You're back!" "Yes, Irako, I'm back. For the last time, as Lete and Kukani told you. I'm sorry for what happened earlier." "Can you tell us exactly what happened? One minute, you were fine and then, you went psycho on us!", I exclaimed, still suspicious. "I'm not quite sure what happen. A powerful evil entity is at work here. You'll have to figure it out by yourselves, I'm afraid". Nari told us. And then, she said " the Shattered Illusions ritual in now completed. You need to hurry."  
"What do you mean completed?", I asked nervously. "That young girl, Saimoo. It's too late for her now. That's what I mean", Nari said sadly. "She has just died, as soon as the 3rd phase ended".  
"Oh no, that's awful. It can't be", I cried in frustration. "I'm sorry for all the losses you two have suffered. I must go now. Irako, watch over Shikoju. She's a really nice girl. Shikoju, I'm glad you hold a special place in Irako's heart. Farewell to you both. Goodbye." And she disappeared.

We stood in awkward silence for a moment, then I said, "Well… I suppose we should get going." Irako nodded and we continued on our way. Passing an archway, we heard a voice whisper "over here!" We turned to face the ghost labelled as "Butchered Maiden". She looked better than she had when she attacked us. Her kimono was no longer torn, and there was no sign of injury except a bruise on her cheek. I instinctively raised the camera but she cried "Don't! I won't hurt you. I know a way out." I didn't shoot, but I didn't lower the camera. "Who are you?" I asked. "My name is Nivesi. I got lost in the forest and wound up in this village. I came here to find out if anyone could help me." "So what happened?" Irako asked. "I ran into Zukun." "Who?" "That young man with red eyes. He claimed to have wound up here in a similar predicament to mine. He suggested that we search for an exit together." "And you believed him!" I asked incredulously. "He seemed very charming at the time." "He had red eyes! Wasn't that a bit of a giveaway that he's evil?" "I was desperate to get out of this village. I didn't think about it at the time," she replied defensively. "Anyway," she continued, "he brought me to the Sorcerer and Sorceress, who observed me and deemed me impure. They summoned the jaguar man and..." her voice trailed off, and I remembered how she had looked when we met her in the garden. "Do you know anything about this Zukun?" I asked. She shook her head. "Not really, but he seems to have almost as much power as the Sorcerer and Sorceress, especially over all the ghosts. That may be why I attacked you earlier. Listen," her voice became urgent. "You need to get out of here. If the Tainted Love ritual is completed, it will create even more of a hell for the rest of us ghosts. I think I know where an exit is." "Are you serious?" I cried with relief. "Where?" "I'm not positive, but I think it's… " but she was cut off. "Now, really, Nivesi, dear, do you think it's a good idea to tell our sacrifices how to escape? The Sorcerer and Sorceress would be most displeased." Zukun had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He waved his hand and Nivesi disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He turned to us. "You two have given us more trouble than you're worth," he hissed. I raised the camera and took a shot. Again, nothing happen.

"Why won't the Camera work against you?" I cried. "Because I'm no ghost," he said quietly smirking. "Then who the hell are you?" Irako growled. "I came over here 60 years ago ," he began. "I encountered the Sorcerer and Sorceress who planned on using me in the Tainted Love ritual, but deemed me impure and planned to kill me. But I cut a deal with them," he said, smiling more broadly. "If they promised not to kill me and to teach me the dark magic they know, I would lure victims from the outside world here for them. Having a connection to the outside world benefited them...and learning dark magic has benefited me. It's allowed me to keep my youth." "So you lured my aunt and mother and I here? Lete? Irako's class?" "Smart girl," he said mockingly. He snapped his fingers, and the guards appeared again. Two of them grabbed Irako and two of them grabbed me. "Bring the boy to his room to complete the third phase. Bring the girl to her room to begin the first phase. He grinned down evilly at me. "All you've been doing by running around this village is prolonging your death," he said, wresting the Camera Obscura from my grasp. "The Tainted Love ritual will be completed. Such a shame too, a pretty little thing like you having to die." "Bite me," I snapped. When it looks like you're not going to be alive much longer, you may as well be as rude as you want to. "Why is love such an evil thing here? All of the sadness...what ever happened to true love?" Zukun grabbed my chin and lifted my face towards his, forcing me to look at him. "There is no such thing as true love, darling. Take her to her room! The ritual will continue!"

Before I knew it, I was back in the room I had previously escaped from. I was now separated from Irako, once again, and to make things worse, the Camera Obscura was no longer in my possession. My first instinct was to run to the trap door I had used before to escape. Alas, it had been bolted shut. There really was no way out this time. There were 2 guards posted outside my room and 2 more inside. To my horror, the Unholy High Priestess was in my room. And so were the Sorcerer and the Sorceress. And Zukun. "Begin the first phase", the Sorcerer and Sorceress ordered at the same time, in a guttural voice, to someone who was carrying a torch, and another person who had a jar of oil. I had been strapped to the altar. And before I could do anything, the fire phase begun. Oil was poured all over me and then, I was set on fire. The pain was so vivid, I passed out. Zukun's evil smile was the last thing I saw before falling into unconsciousness. When I came to, the 2nd phase had begun. Someone was bathing me in honey, applying it all over the wounds I had received during the first phase. I was so numbed, I couldn't react normally. Yet, I knew that I had to do something. I dreaded what would happen in the 3rd and final phase. Irako had been through the first 2 phases before escaping. I could only hope they hadn't performed the 3rd phase on him. I noticed that the Unholy High Priestess, the Sorcerer, the Sorceress and Zukun were no longer in my room.

Before I could talk to the person taking care of me, I was pulled me out of the tub I was in and the excess honey residues were removed from my body. I was dressed up in the bright red kimono. All the servants exited the room. As soon as they were out, a strange and thick orange colored mist appeared out of nowhere and started to fill in the room. In a matter of minutes, it was up to my shoulders. Afraid, I climbed on the altar. It kept on raising. Just when I thought it would engulfed me, the door bursted open. A violent breeze of fresh air hit my face. "Get out now! Quickly!", a female voice ordered. No need to tell me 2 times. I sprinted out of the room. The door immediately closed shut again, with a loud bang. I saw the 2 guards posted at my door laying on the floor, both knocked out. Again, I heard the voice. "Stand back!", it ordered. I did as I was told. The door re-opened and much to my astonishment, both guards elevated in the air and were thrown into the room! The door closed back again. It all happened within a few seconds. "Who are you?", I asked. But nobody answered. I ran down the stairway leading up to my room and I was about to climb up the other one, leading to Irako's room, when I saw a male figure emerged at the bottom of the stairway in question. "Irako!", I cried, totally stunned to see him. "Are you alright?" "Yes, I am. But what about you? I see you've been through the first 2 phases, haven't you?", Irako said as he gently touched a burn mark on my cheek. "Yes, I have, as a matter of fact. But I'm okay, I guess. I'm so relieved to see you. I was afraid that… you… that they had…" but the words caught in my throat as tears filled up my eyes. "Don't cry, Shikoju. We're both alright and we're going to put an end to this", Hyotaru said as he hugged me. We looked at each other for a moment. He was wearing the same bright red kimono as mine. "How did you got out of your room?", we both asked the other at the same time. "The door opened and a voice told me to get out fast", we both answered in unison. We both laughed. "What about your guards?", he asked me. I told him what had happened and he told me the exact same thing. "Ok, that's weird. To whom did that voice belonged to?", I asked Hyotaru. "I'm not sure. It was pretty familiar however. Did it ring a bell for you too?"  
"No. Anyway, what do we do now? Zukun took the Camera from me. If we get attacked again, we're in major trouble. Although I don't believe a ghost would really kill us since we are needed for the sacrifice." " That's what I believe too. I don't know what would have happened if the 3rd phase had been completed. However, I overheard a guard say that once it was completed, they would need to bring us both to the Blood Cauldron room. It must be the place where we are supposed to die, I presume. They also said it would take about 2 hours for our rooms to be totally soaked in the orange mist.", Irako revealed to me. "2 hours? But it was already way above my head before I got out!", I exclaimed. "Me too, but which probably means it would have continued to fill up the room until it was completely bathed in a mist so thick, it would be impossible to move or even breathe. Anyway, this gives us a little under 2 hours to search the manor before they come for us". "Fine. What do we do if we are attacked?" "I don't know. Come on, let's get go to the other floor.", Irako told me.

We arrived to the other floor. Candles were projecting shadows on the walls with their flickering lights. It was quite unnerving. I noticed to people walking toward us. "Irako, watch out!", I said, pointing to the 2 figures who both stopped walking as we did. We both looked at them cautiously and discovered we were walking toward a mirror. Our own reflection had scared us. We both let out a sigh of relief. But when we actually did reach the mirror, I saw myself and bursted into tears. I had been too distraught to realize the extend of the damage I had suffered in the fire phase. But now, I could. My beautiful and long silky black hair had burned down. It now barely reached just a little under my ears and was all frizzled up. I had a vicious burn mark on my cheek, where Irako had touched me. My long eyelashes and eyebrows had burned too. "Shikoju, what's wrong?", Irako softly asked me. "What's wrong? Are you blind? Look at me. I'm ugly. I'm a freak! Why didn't you told me?" "Shikoju, you're not ugly and you're not a freak. In my eyes, you're still as beautiful as you ever were. Trust me, okay? In time, your hair, eyelashes and eyebrows will grow back. And those nasty burn marks will fade away, I promise you. Honestly. You are magnificent, don't ever doubt that. You believe me, don't you?", he said as he wiped my tears and forced me to look into his eyes. "Yes, I believe you", I answered calmly. He lifted my chin, closed his eyes and delicately pressed his lips against mine. He kissed me with so much tenderness, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We parted from each other, smiling at one another. We were standing in front of the mirror when we heard a voice behind us.

"Irako, you must hurry", said a male voice. We turned. In front of us stood a boy about Irako's age. And a dozen other people surrounded him, all about the same age and an older woman I recognized as Irako's and Nari's teacher. "Eichu, it's you!", Irako said. "Shikoju, this is Eichu, my best friend. And all of my classmates. And my teacher. What are you all doing here?" "We came to help you but we don't have much time", said the professor. "Nari, Lete and Kukani were able to find a way for us to come here but only for a short period. We're the ones who set you free, using mystical energy borrowed from the other world.", she added. "Thank you", I said. "What can you…" "No time for small talk, my dear. Just listen very carefully. You must get back your Camera. It's imperative that you get it back as soon as possible. It was created by a certain Dr. Aso , a man who lived a long time ago. You must also know this: in order to break away the curse, once and for all, an act of true unselfish love must be performed by someone who's pure of heart, mind, body and soul. The double sacrifices must not happen. If you two are killed, it will happen over and over again. Your souls will be trapped here forever and you will endure never ending torments of all kinds. Finally, the boy who made a pact with the sorcerers must pay for his sins. You'll have to kill him, otherwise, he will prevent you from putting an halt to the curse, as he is the most powerful human ally the dark evil forces of this village have. However, there is a small problem. If you kill him, you will both loose your purity. Murder, no matter what the reasons are for it, soils your mind, heart and soul. Be very careful about that. You must remain pure, at all cost, if you are to succeed." "Huh? But what we are going to do, then?", Irako asked. "Figure out a way. We can't help you with this difficult task. We have done only what we could and were allowed to. Our time is over. We must cross back the Great Divide, otherwise, we won't rest in peace. So long, children. Be strong and courageous.", the teacher said again. All the students, minus Nari who was already in the other world forever, and the teacher waved goodbye at us and disappeared.

"So now what?", I asked. "How are we supposed to destroy Zukun without soiling ourselves?"  
"We'll have to find out a…", Irako started to say but didn't finished his sentence. "Listen", he said, "do you hear that?" And then, I heard it. There was a voice coming from the mirror! And it was begging for help! "Shikoju, stand back", Irako ordered me. He grabbed a candelabra and swung it into the mirror, which shattered into tiny pieces on the floor. Behind it was an hidden door with a peephole in it! Irako peered through. "Oh! There's a chained woman there and she looks delirious".  
"What? Let me see", I said. I took a peek and let out a scream. "Mother! It's my mother. Irako, we found my mother!", I said, overjoyed. "Help me open that door". We tried as much as we could but it was useless. The door refused to budge. And it didn't had any secret trick either. "Mother! Can you hear me? It's me, Shikoju. Mother! How can I open the door?". But she didn't answered. She just kept staring at the wall in front of her. She seemed to be out of her mind. "Shikoju, something's wrong with her. She looks like she's in a trance of some sort. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for her right now." "But we can't just leave her here", I said, almost hysterical. "We have to. We're unable to open the door and she's not responding. Please Shikoju, you must get a hold of yourself and be reasonable. We'll come back for her as soon as we find a way to let her out, ok?" "You must be right, I suppose", I said with a loud breath. "Mother, my friend Irako and I will try to find a way to rescue you, ok? We'll come back very soon, I promise. I love you, Mother." She didn't even flinch. She just kept staring at that wall and mumbling a bunch of nonsense.

We decided to explore another floor. All the doors were locked on my mother's floor. We realized time had flew faster than expected. We had about 40 minutes left. We went from one room to another without finding anything helpful, except a roll of film, good only for 1 use. It was a type Zero film. How weird. I pocketed it anyway, even if I seriously doubted it could help. We found ourselves back on the ground floor. And saw a large curtain with horrifying designs on it. Out of curiosity, we approached it. I lost my balance and started to fall so I grabbed the curtain to stop my chute and at that moment, I went right through the curtain. I was standing at the bottom of a stairway. "Irako, I found something". My friend passed through the curtain and looked at the stairs. He handed me his arms and said: "my lady, shall we go?" "Yes, my kind sir, we shall", I said as I placed my hand in his. We reached the top of the stairs in silence, wondering what we would find. We emerged in a circular room, filled with spooky artefacts. There was no light except from a moon's ray filtering through a large window. The moon was still red and dripping blood. There was a bed, a few shelves and a writing desk. And at the desk, someone was sitting. Zukun. Irako and I looked at each other and froze in place. He hadn't heard us. He seemed to be observing something on his desk and was lost in his thoughts. We both advanced in silence toward him. And then, I saw what he was contemplating. It was the Camera Obscura, laying on the desk, in front of him. At that moment, a board from the floor creaked loudly. Startled, Zukun turned. "You! But how… it's impossible!", he said, furious, as he stood up. "You've got something that belongs to me", I said, "and I want it back." "I don't think so, you foolish girl. I don't know how you were able to get of your room this time but it doesn't matter. You can't escape your destiny!", he said, with a sarcastic grin on his face, as he slowly proceeded toward us, a long and heavy sword in one of his hands. "Wanna bet?", Irako asked him. "Gives us back the Camera NOW!" "Over my dead body!", Zukun responded. "That can be arranged", said a voice. We turned to see Nivesi floating in the air. Her gaze was fixed on Zukun and she meant business. "How did you get here?", Zukun asked her, enraged. "Return at once where you came from or you'll be sorry. Obey now and I'll forget about this little transgression" "I'm here to stop you, once and for all, Zukun. You will not be allowed to harm anyone else.", Nivesi added, very calmly and confidant. She smiled at us, gently. "How dare you!", he shouted. He rose a hand and waved it at her like he had previously done. She barely even shimmered. "No! How can this be? How can you resist my power?" "Never mind that. You and I have unfinished business. It's time to settle the score.", Nivesi said, her eyes glowing as blue as Zukun's eyes were glowing red. She floated toward him. He swung his sword at her. Nothing happened. "As a matter of fact, Zukun, I'm not the only who's got a score to settle with you. Do you remember these ladies?", she asked, gesturing around herself as about 30 young girls, who all had tattered kimonos and bore similar wounds to Nivesi's, suddenly appeared. And for the very first time since I had first encountered him, I saw fear glow in Zukun's eyes. They were all looking at Zukun, slowly advancing on him. He started to panic. "Leave me alone!", he shouted. "You can't do this to me. Go away! Do you hear me? Obey or I'll punish you!", he screamed at them, as they all lunged toward him. He took the Camera and raised it. "Back off or I'll destroy you with this!", he yelled. But before he could even use it, all of his previous victims took one more step in his direction. There was a breaking glass sound. The window had shattered. We heard a terrified scream and a loud thud. We sprinted to the broken window, passing through the girls, and looked down. Zukun's body was laying on the ground far below. He head was making a bizarre angle with his body. Blood was oozing out from his forehead, ears and nose. He was dead.

"Oh no, you killed him!", I whispered, petrified. "Your soul will be damned" "No Shikoju. We are already dead. We won't be damned, don't worry.", Nivesi said softly. "How were you able to come back? We thought Zukun had destroyed you or something when he made you disappeared.", Irako said. "Actually, he only punished me. I suffered terribly. However, just like they did before, Lete, Kukani and Nari were able to borrow some mystical energy to send us here. Don't ask how, we can't answer that. There might be consequences for doing this but it is of no concern to you. Zukun will no longer be able to interfere. He might be able to come back as a ghost to attack you but that's all he'll be able to do. Which should be no problem for you, with the help of this", she said, pointing to a spot below the window. The Camera had fallen on the floor before Zukun went through the window. I took it back immediately, more grateful than I ever dreamed of being one day. "There is one last favor we can do for you, and then, we must return whence we came from. Follow us, quickly", Nivesi added. She and her friends took us back to my mother's cell. The door opened. "Stand back for a moment", Nivesi told me, as she and the others girls joined hands and circled around my mother. They were all bathed in a bright blue light. Irako and I watched as the light grew more intense and descended on my mother. Only a few seconds later, the light dissipated and my mother fell on her knees. She looked up and screamed my name. "Shikoju! Is that you? Shikoju! Shikoju! My beloved daughter!", she cried as I threw myself into her arms. We both started to cry. From the corner of my eye, I saw Irako smile as a tear fell on his cheek. "We did what we were summoned here to, my friends", Nivesi's voice echoed. "It's time to return now. Hurry. As for you, Shikoju and Irako, be brave. There is still great evil at work here. Don't let it triumph over you. Goodbye". All the previous Butchered Maidens girls evaporated.

In the minutes that followed, I introduced Irako to my mother and vice-versa. We all talked a lot. We told her about the ghosts and the ritual and she told us what had happened to her since we had been separated. However, Irako and I kept to ourselves what we knew about the night of my father's death. All 3 of us got out of the cell and proceeded to go down, back to the first floor. "Leaving so soon? The party hasn't even begun yet!", a voice thundered. It was Zukun! Back from the dead. "What's wrong, Shikoju? You don't seem happy to see me." "Damn right about that, you bastard!", I shouted. "Oooh, I'm hurt. Come over here so we can kiss and make up", he said. "You want a kiss, do you? Well, kiss my …" "Shikoju! Your language!", my mother said, interrupting me and blushing. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!", Zukun erupted laughing. "You sure are quite something, lady, scolding your daughter for her use of words. Especially after what you have done, you murderer!" "Shut up!", Irako hissed at Zukun. "Just shut up and go back to hell!" "Alright, I'll go back to hell. But first, I'll take you with me". Zukun's eyes glowed red and he hit Irako with his sword. "Oh no, you won't", I said. I raised the Camera and took a shot. Zukun screamed in rage and pain, and then, charged toward me. I threw the Camera at Irako. He took a shot. Zukun changed direction again. Irako threw the Camera back at me. Zukun came angrier with each picture we took, he eyes totally red with rage. He screamed with all his might. "Shikoju, will you do me the honor of taking one last picture of that pathetic creep?", Irako asked me as he threw the Camera back at me one more time. "With pleasure, my dear friend. With pleasure". I aimed and pressed the shutter button one last time. Zukun vacillated for a moment, he shivered and exploded in a burst of red lights. "The Devilish Ally", as labelled in the Ghost Manifesto, was no longer a threat.

I showed my mother all the information we had gathered in the Ghost Manifesto. She seemed a little puzzled and mortified by all this but still, she was okay, nonetheless. We were discussing what to do next when we were interrupted. The Unholy High Priestess, accompanied by her four Disfigured Nuns, had returned, probably to take us to the Blood Cauldron room. Off course, she wasn't happy to see we had gotten out of our room. "Seize them", she ordered to the 4 Disfigured Nuns. But all of them were only ghosts, they weren't human guards. And so, we made sure they couldn't capture us by taking a few well-aimed pictures of them. The Unholy High Priestess was enraged. She started to throw daggers at us, pretty similar to the one she had used to mark me for the Tainted Love ritual. I didn't gave her the chance to accomplish her misdeed. Soon enough, I sent her back to oblivion.  
"One less dangerous foe for us", Irako said. "Indeed, but how many other remain?", I asked, anxiously. "I wish I knew", he answered. "If luck is on our side, we won't encounter many other evil ghosts. We can only hope and pray that the most dangerous ones won't come back. Now, what do we do and which way do we go?"

That question was answered quite unexpectedly by someone we thought we would never see again. Saimoo. She had return to us, in spirit form. "Saimoo!", I said. "We weren't able to save you. I'm so sorry". She floated to me, with a kind smile on her face and barely caressed my cheek with her little hand. Then, she gestured that we had nothing to feel sorry for and that we had done what we could. She made a sign to tell us to follow her. So we did. We walked through a series of long corridor and dark hallways located beneath ground. We could feel the earth tremble more and more strongly as we progressed further under ground. Saimoo stopped leading the way abruptly, just as we were about to enter a large room made of stones. She turned to face us and we saw fear in her eyes. She started to shake her head, in denial. "Saimoo, what's happening?", I cried, much too aware of what was happening. She was transforming, I knew it. She fell to ground in a silent scream. Irako, my mother and myself exchanged glances. Irako took a step toward Saimoo and she stood up. She elevated in the air, her eyes glowing red. She opened her mouth to scream but all that came out was a foul stench that made us dizzy. The passage collapsed behind us. There was no way back. We were now trapped in the last portion of the tunnel. We couldn't enter the room in front of us because Saimoo was standing in the entrance. She screamed again and vomited a torrent of blood on us. It threw us down on the ground. But she didn't attacked us. Instead, she started to scratch her face furiously, shredding the skin away. Each time a bit of flesh fell off her face, she took it and placed it into her mouth. It was horrible. We could see her facial muscles and nerves. She started to chew. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and we gasped in shock. Her previously cut-off tongue had grew back. Actually, it hadn't really grew back. She had made herself a new one with the skin of her face. It was monstrous. She tilted her head forward and darted her tongue at us, slapping us with it. As sad as I was feeling at that moment, I had no choice but to counterattack. Aiming the Camera, I posed her. 5 times. She jerked her head backward and disintegrated into a thousand of sparkles. Saimoo now had her own place in the Ghost Manifesto: "The Silently Suffering Maiden". I wept. And so did Irako and my mother. It was so unfair.

We entered the room since we couldn't go back. The earth was now shaking more intensely than ever. We could barely stand up. We saw 2 small altars with blood-stained ropes on it. Between the 2 altars was a cloth-covered table. Ceremonial knifes had been put down on it, along with some orange colored incense sticks burning in small censers. An orange vapor emanated from the censers and also from orange colored candles planted in candelabras placed all around the 2 altars. The whole scene looked eerier than anything we had encountered so far. And to make things even more chilling, in the middle of the room's floor was a large circular pool standing in front of the altars. It was filled with blood. Boiling blood! "I know where we are!", I exclaimed. "It has to be the Blood Cauldron room. What do you think, Irako?" "I believe you're right, Shikoju. Now that we're here, what do we do?", he asked. "You lay down on the altar and prepare to die!", an awful voice said. It was the Sorcerer. And he wasn't alone. The Sorceress was with him, along with the Evil Matron, the Damned Temptress, the Beekeeper and the Devilish Ally. The six most dangerous and evil enemies we had met since the beginning. I raised the Camera immediately and posed them. Nothing happened. I tried again. And again. No results. And then, I realized they weren't totally materialized. They were just hovering by. They all started to laugh together. I felt major goosebumps ran up my spine. They joined hands in a semi-circle behind the altars and started to chant. My mother screamed and lost consciousness. Irako and I both felt into a trance. I dropped the Camera on the floor. It felt like I had lost possession of my entire being, as if my willpower had been stripped from me. Unwillingly, we both advanced toward the altars, unable to fight off the ghosts hypnotic desires. I saw Irako lay down on his altar as I lied down on mine. The Sorcerer and the Sorceress parted from the group as the others kept on chanting. The Sorcerer came to my altar and the Sorceress went to Irako's altar. They both took a ceremonial knife and lifted it in the air, above the location of our heart in our chest. The orange vapor grew wider and thicker. They prepared to plunge their respective knives down into our hearts.

I felt a tear fell on my cheek as my body tensed, knowing I was about to die. At that moment, there was a series of flashes. My mother had came to and she had gripped the Camera Obscura. Disconcerted for a moment, the Sorcerer and the Sorceress dropped their knives. The chanting stopped. My mother seized that opportunity. She ran to my altar and pulled me from it. We felt on the floor together. The trance was broken. Irako got off his altar and ran to me. He took the Camera Obscura from my mother's hand and took many shots. Nothing happened. "No!", the Evil Matron lamented. "The ritual is failing. We're running out of time!" "Damn you!", the Damned Temptress managed to utter in a very rasp voice, pointing a finger in our direction. "you'll pay for this", she croaked. "Be forever condemned to the hell of our wrath!", the Beekeeper hissed as bees flew out of his mouth. "Shove it where I think", I said, showing them all my middle finger. My mother said nothing but she blushed deeply. "Fear not, faithful friends", the Sorceress said. "All is not lost. This is not over yet. We will triumph", her husband added. "Join hands again and resume chanting", they said at the same time to the 4 other ghosts. For an instant, it seemed nothing was happening. And then, something happened. They all started to melt! At least, they'd seemed to had been melting. What they had truly done was worse. They were merging together. Much to our horror, they became one horrible creature with six heads. It was so frightening I can't even bear to describe its physical appearance. It let out a loud roar that was a mix of piercing shrieks and bellows. It slammed an extra-large clawed hand on the floor. The ground shook violently. It slammed its other hand in our direction. Irako and I ducked just in time but it caught my mother and sent her flying across the room. I heard the sound of bones breaking. My mother's bones. I was enraged. I charged toward the creature, raised the Camera Obscura and took a picture. All six pairs of the ghost's eyes blinked, then the ghost took a step back and nothing more. I took one more shot. And another. And another. Each time, the ghost simply blinked, stepping back a little. The Camera Obscura wasn't destroying it, only stunning it a little. I was astonished beyond belief. I kept on taking pictures. Then, I notice, to my despair, I had emptied my rolls of film. Distraught by this, I didn't saw the ghost flung one hand at me. I was catapulted near my mother as a huge amount of my soul's energy was taken from me. It took all of my remaining strength not to pass out. I heard Irako tell me something as the ghost prepared to attack him. "Shikoju, the type Zero film. Load it in the Camera.", he said just before the ghost punched him hard. I quickly charged the type Zero film. It contained only one shot. This was my last hope. I raised the Camera and aimed at the ghost. I pressed the shutter button. Time stood still for a brief moment. The ghost staggered a little and fell into the pool of boiling blood. Than, all six heads of the ghost yelled in agony. There was an intense rumbling sound as the ghost exploded in a torrent of dark red lights. I couldn't believe it but I had really defeated "The Sinister Six", as it was described in the Ghost Manifesto.

My mother was losing a lot of blood. Irako and I tried our best to stop the bleeding. She had a broken leg. When she came to, she begged us to keep silent. Her breathing was difficult. She wanted to make a confession. And so, she told me what had really happened the night my father had died. She confirmed my vision. She really had killed him and his new bride. She told us how much she had loved him, more than anything in this life. She would have done anything for him. When he left her, she went mad. She couldn't bear losing him to another woman. She decided that if she couldn't have, no one else would. I felt as if someone had driven a thousand shards into my heart. She also told me that my father had discovered her interest in the dark arts and that she had committed many crimes in order to practice her craft. She begged me to understand and to forgive her. How could I refuse a dying woman's last wish? So I forgave her, as painful as it was to do. We were both crying. We said we loved each other. She smiled, kissed the tip of her index finger and placed it on my lips. And that's how she died. Irako had to separate me from her body. As he did, something fell from one her pockets. A roll of film. Type 90. It contained 5 shots. From force of habit, I absently loaded it in the Camera. Hyotaru and I hugged each other in silence. At this point, words were useless. We were both so exhausted from everything we had been through.

We were trying to find a way out of this room when a pale grey light materialized out of nowhere.  
"Shikoju, my beloved daughter. Don't cry, I have come back for you." My mother had indeed return. As a ghost. I was speechless. "We can be a family again, sweetheart", she said. "We will be happy, I promise you. As soon as you join me, we can go to your father and everything will be the way it used to." "Mother, we can't be a family anymore. How could we? You're dead. And I'm alive." "You must renounce to your human life. It won't hurt, I swear. I'll just take you in my arms and hold you against me and then, we'll be together forever" "No, Mother. I don't want to die in order to be with you. I'm young. I've got my whole life in front of me. I'm not ready to die. Not after everything I've experienced. I have survived many horrible events. I can't let go of my life, I hold it to dearly. I'm sorry. Go away, Mother, and be in peace.", I said, ignoring the lump in my throat and pushing back the tears threatening to fall. "It's because of him, isn't it?", she said, pointing a finger at Irako. "Don't trust him, he'll only break your heart, like your father broke mine", she added, anger rising in her voice. "Don't worry, Shikoju. Mother is here now. I will take care of everything. I will set free of this boy's influence. He's not good enough for you. Close your eyes now, darling. And don't look while Mother takes care of this hooligan.", she declared as she jumped on Irako and started to strangle him. "Mother, please. I beg you. Let him go! Now!" "It's alright, darling. Mother is doing this for your own good" "Mother, let him go! Don't force me to this, I implore you", I said as I aimed the Camera Obscura at her. "Shikoju, what are you doing? I didn't raised you like that. Be a good girl and let Mother finish her duty" "No, Mother. I can't let you do that". And I took a picture. And a second one. Her grip on Irako loosened. I took a third picture, by precaution. She turned to me. "How dare you! You ungrateful daughter! After everything I've done for you.", she screamed. Before I knew it, her right hand hit me in the face. "Shame on you, disobedient girl!". I took a 4th picture. Her face twisted in rage. She prepared to hit me again. "I am your mother. You will do as I say. You must obey me.", she yelled. "Forgive me, Mother. You leave me no choice.", I added somberly. I took one last shot. She was pushed back. She stumbled and shivered. "Shikoju, why? Why?", she cried as she vanished into thin air. I passed out.

When I came to, Irako was holding me in his arms. I had fought against my own mother, who now had her own mention in the Ghost Manifesto: "Mother Of All Sins". Irako had just shown this to me when something else occurred. The boiling blood in the pool started to erupt in the air. Irako and I looked at each other fearfully. The entire room became filled with a scorching temperature. The ground started to shake even more vividly. The blood started to swirl in the middle of the pool. Without warning, the Camera Obscura started to glow and became too hot to hold. As soon as I had let it go because it was starting to burn my palms, it flew into the air and crashed into a wall were it shattered into a thousand pieces. The Camera Obscura had been destroyed!

Suddenly, a grotesque form started to emerge from the blood pool. It looked like a gigantic pulsating heart, with big white slimy grubs roaming all over it. It was totally disgusting. And then, we heard it moan. The heart was moaning! As if the voices of all the damned souls who had died in the village of Oong-Ye-Wa were trapped inside. The heat grew more intense. We were sweating hard and could barely breathe. We were slowly suffocating. I felt so fatigued, as my energy was taken away from me. I felt the need to just let my soul go. I didn't want to resist call of death. I was too tired to fight anymore. I was ready to give up. I could hear the monstrous beat of the heart reverberate in my mind. Irako seemed very weakened too. My vision of him was blurred by my tears. A huge flash of light burst into the room, distracting my attention away from the heart, who stopped beating, as if it had been temporarily frozen.

"Shikoju, Irako, don't give up!". It was my mother's voice. "This heart is the Rotten Heart of those who merged into the Sinister Six. If you let it consumed you, then they will come back and they will keep finding new victims to recreate their rituals." "Mother! The Camera Obscura is broken. We don't have the power to stop evil anymore", I told her. "How will we stop them?", Irako asked her, very weakly. My mother said: "A person who is pure of heart, body, mind and soul must perform an act of truly unselfish love to break the curse forever. The Rotten Heart must be purified by the sacrifice of pure and true love. I wish I could do it but I can't. My actions soiled me. The Rotten Heart will restart beating again soon and I must depart before it does. Shikoju, my beautiful daughter, remember that I love you. I always will" "I love you too, Mother!", I said, just before she went back to the other world. "Shikoju, I think I've got a solution", Irako said, just as the Rotten Heart slowly unfroze. "Whatever it is, we must hurry. The heart has…", but he interrupted me. "Shikoju, I believe this is the only way. Please, don't be upset with me for what I'm about to do."  
"Irako, what do you mean?", I asked. "I have to do it to save you, Shikoju. In time, I hope you can forgive me." "Forgive you? For what?" "Shikoju", he said softly he caressed my face, "I must tell you something very important. Shikoju, I love you. I truly do love you." "Oh, Irako. I love you too". He hold me gently against him and kissed me tenderly. "Goodbye my love! Part of me will always be with you. Remember that.", he said. "Goodbye? Irako, we just…", but I didn't finished my sentence.

Irako pushed me away from him and before I could stop him, he ran toward the Rotten Heart and plunged inside! It opened and swallowed him instantly. All of a sudden, it stopped beating. It moaned furiously and thousands of cries came out of it. The Rotten Heart went silent and started to turned grey. It exploded into ashes and vanished. I was engulfed in a pale blue light as Irako's spirit appeared. "Shikoju, I am sorry. It was the only way. I wasn't sure it would work but it did. I'm glad I did it. Have no regrets. Meeting and knowing and then, learning to love you is the best thing that ever happened to me" "Oh, Irako. I understand. The feeling is mutual. I will miss you so much", I said, crying. "Touch my hand, Irako. It's time for you to start a new life". I touched his hand. Everything started to spin. I lost consciousness.

Some people found me unconscious, laying in a field of burned trees, where the village of Oong-Ye-Wa was supposed to be. Strangely enough, it's like the village has never existed. Only a field of burned trees remains were the houses and other buildings should be.

Ever since that time, I haven't been able to love anyone. I once flew over the village's location in an helicopter. And I saw something spooky. The village's agglomeration had been in the shape of... a heart!

THE END.


End file.
